The Batteries Regulation contains several definitions concerning the use, recycling, and placing on the market of batteries and accumulators. This glossary helps to understand the key concepts and their meanings under the Regulation.
Battery, according to the Batteries Regulation, means:
- Portable or general-use battery: a portable battery or accumulator, rechargeable or non-rechargeable, specifically designed for interoperability, with common types including 4.5 V (3R12), button cells, D, C, AA, AAA, AAAA, A23, or 9 V (PP3);
- Light means of transport battery: a sealed battery weighing no more than 25 kg, specifically designed to provide electric power to wheeled vehicles, powered solely by an electric motor or a combination of motor and human power, including L-category type-approved vehicles as defined in Regulation (EU) No 168/2013, and which is not an electric vehicle traction battery;
- Starter, lighting, or ignition battery / vehicle battery: a battery specifically designed to supply electrical energy for starting, lighting, or ignition, and which may also be used as an auxiliary or reserve power source in vehicles, other means of transport, or machinery;
- Industrial battery: a battery or accumulator specifically designed for industrial use, or any battery/accumulator over 5 kg not covered by electric vehicle traction batteries, light means of transport batteries, or vehicle batteries;
- Electric vehicle traction battery: a battery specifically designed to supply electrical energy for L-category hybrid or electric vehicles under Regulation (EU) 168/2013 and weighing over 25 kg, or for M-, N-, or O-category hybrid or electric vehicles under Regulation (EU) 2018/858.
Distributor: any natural or legal person in the supply chain other than the manufacturer or importer who makes a battery or accumulator available on the market.
Waste management operator: a natural or legal person who professionally carries out the separate collection or treatment of waste batteries or accumulators.
Waste battery or accumulator: a battery or accumulator that constitutes waste as defined in Article 3(1) of Directive 2008/98/EC.
Recycler: a natural or legal person carrying out recycling in an authorised facility.
Recycling efficiency: the mass fraction, expressed as a percentage, obtained by dividing the mass of a fraction from the recycling process by the mass of the waste batteries or accumulators input to that process.
Treatment: any operation carried out after waste batteries or accumulators have been delivered for sorting, preparation for reuse, preparation for a change of purpose, or preparation for recycling, or for recycling itself.
Change of purpose: any operation whereby a whole battery or accumulator, which is not waste, or its parts are used for a purpose or application other than that for which it was originally designed.
Importer: a natural or legal person established in the Union who places a battery or accumulator from a third country on the market.
QR code: a machine-readable two-dimensional code that provides access to the information required by the Batteries Regulation.
Producer: a manufacturer, importer, distributor, or other natural or legal person who, regardless of the sales method, including distance sales:
- is established in a Member State and manufactures batteries or accumulators under their own name or trademark, or designs/manufactures them and places them on the market for the first time under their own name or trademark, including batteries in appliances, light means of transport, or other vehicles, within that Member State;
- is established in a Member State and resells, under their own name or trademark, batteries or accumulators manufactured by others in that Member State, without the names or trademarks of those other manufacturers;
- is established in a Member State and supplies batteries or accumulators professionally for the first time in that Member State from another Member State or a third country; or
- sells batteries or accumulators by distance sales directly to end users in a Member State, including batteries in appliances, light means of transport, or other vehicles, regardless of whether the users are private households or not, and is established in another Member State or a third country.
Producer responsibility organisation: a legal entity that economically and operationally ensures compliance with extended producer responsibility obligations on behalf of several producers.
Remanufacturing: any technical operation on used batteries or accumulators involving dismantling and assessing all cells and modules, using new, used, or recovered cells/modules or components to restore at least 90% of the original nominal capacity, with individual cells/modules differing by no more than 3%, and the resulting battery/accumulator used for the same purpose or application as originally designed.
Manufacturer: a natural or legal person who manufactures or designs/manufactures batteries or accumulators and markets them under their own name or trademark or uses them for their own purposes.
Authorised representative: a natural or legal person established in the Union who has a written mandate from the manufacturer to carry out certain tasks on behalf of the manufacturer under Chapters IV and VI of the Regulation.