Following on closely from the European Union’s announcement about a new regulation for more sustainable, circular and safe batteries (the so-called “Battery Regulation”), the partners from Battery Pass and CIRPASS met in Munich on 25 January to discuss opportunities for cooperation and alignment of their work. The two projects will play influential roles in shaping the implementation of the digital product passports required by the new legislation. It was agreed that further exchange between the projects will be beneficial, while each project will retain independence in terms of the recommendations and roadmaps it presents.
Digital Product Passports (DPPs) will be core tools for tracking and providing transparency on the responsible sourcing and carbon footprints of materials in batteries and other products, as well as for promoting circular economy by providing data for product durability, repair, reuse and recyclability. They are further specified in the Proposal for Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulations (ESPR). The Battery Pass project is co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). It brings together partners from science and industry in order to compile comprehensive guidance for contents and technical design of Battery Passports, demonstrate them in a pilot and assess their potential value. CIRPASS is funded by the European Commission with the mandate to prepare the ground for the gradual deployment of cross-sectoral DPPs. Over the course of 18 months, the project’s 31 partners will work on the three sectors of batteries, electronics and textiles.
In order for DPPs to achieve their environmental, societal and economic objectives, they must be practical to implement and align with existing legislative requirements, the ESPR, and reporting approaches of industry across Europe and globally. CIRPASS has already identified more than 150 DPP-related initiatives and business pilot projects, which demonstrates the existing high levels of activity to develop digital data collection and exchange tools, as well as the urgent need for a common framework to reach DPP interoperability across sectors.
In this context, the joint Battery Pass and CIRPASS workshop enabled partners to clarify their project objectives, as well as to share their methodologies and progress made so far. Discussions highlighted important factors such as the need for: clear cross-sectoral definitions of DPP terminology based on international standards; joint understanding of appropriate unit levels for a DPP (i.e. series, models, products, components, etc.); as well as exchange on the key data reporting requirements that will drive sustainability and circularity. The Global Battery Alliance (GBA) and EIT InnoEnergy are involved in both projects and will therefore contribute to maintaining open lines of communication.
Both Battery Pass and CIRPASS welcome further engagement with stakeholders. More information on each project and its contact details can be found below.
About Battery Pass: Co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the Battery Pass Consortium project aims to advance the implementation of the battery passport based on requirements of the EU Battery Regulation and beyond. Led by system change company Systemiq GmbH, the Consortium comprises eleven partners and a broad network of associated and supporting organizations to draft content and technical standards for a digital battery passport, demonstrate them in a pilot application and assess its potential value. The project started in April 2022 and runs over three years.
Website: www.thebatterypass.eu
Contact: info@thebatterypass.eu
About CIRPASS: Funded by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme, CIRPASS is a collaborative initiative to prepare the ground for the gradual piloting and deployment of a standards-based Digital Product Passport (DPP) aligned with the requirements of the Proposal for Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulations (ESPR), with an initial focus on the electronics, batteries, and textile sectors. The project consortium is composed of 31 partners representing thousands of industrial, research, digital and standards organisations across Europe and beyond.
Website: www.cirpass.eu
Contact: info@cirpassproject.eu
