An Introduction to Battery Passports

🌱 What are battery passports?

Battery passports are a type of digital product passport (DPP). A battery passport is in essence “a digital record that documents where each part of a battery came from and evaluates its environmental and social impact”.[i]

🌱 What insights do they provide?

Battery passports provide an insight into the raw materials and components used to produce a battery. Typically, the battery composition, the origin of the materials and components, the proportion of recycled content used, and the carbon footprint of the production are covered. Optimally, the processing locations for critical raw materials, as well as any labour and human rights issues that may arise within the supply chain, are also included. The overall aim of battery passports is to improve sustainable and responsible procurement practices and to create more transparency in complex supply chains.[ii]

🌱 What requirements are there in the EU?

The EU has set out specific requirements for the sustainability and supply chain traceability of batteries under the Batteries Regulation.[iii] By February 2027, battery passports will be mandatory for all EVs sold in the EU. The batteries for electric vehicles and many other industrial uses that are sold in the EU must then have “a QR code linking to details on its makeup, origin, and carbon footprint”.[iv]

🌱 Do they cover social impact?

Under the EU Batteries Regulation, the mines involved in a battery’s supply chain, and the adverse impacts they have, must be identified. In line with this, well-designed DPPs should include information on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and adverse biodiversity impacts.

🌱 Could they become an international standard?

There are several international efforts around battery passports currently underway, meaning that the passports may well become an international standard over time. While the U.S. currently has no specific regulation that requires battery passports, the passports could provide more “traceability to prove [batteries] qualify for EV subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act”.[v]

🌱 Are they effective?

Battery passports can, for example, be used to track “battery health over time” and are therefore particularly relevant for the used car market. Rather than merely having to base their decisions on milage, consumers buying used EVs can use battery passports to see “how the battery was cycled over its life”. The life cycle data and battery health included in battery passports can also improve battery recyclability.[vi] If the battery passports are successful in the EU, similar requirements on “supply chain transparency and accountability could catch on elsewhere”.[vii]

This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Saskia Tykkyläinen and Christine Nikander for a collaboration between Palsa & Pulk and The E-Waste Column. The newsletter titled “How can digital product passports create more transparency in supply chains?” was originally published in both “The Just Transition Newsletter” and “The E-Waste Newsletter”.

[i] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[ii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/battery-passports/volvo-s-ev-battery-passport; https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volvo-issue-worlds-first-ev-battery-passport-ahead-eu-rules-2024-06-04/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-says-users-can-track-source-of-battery-metals-in-its-evs-54f6e4f7; https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/volvos-battery-passport-seeks-improve-ev-supply-chain-accountability

[iii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/battery-passports/volvo-s-ev-battery-passport; https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volvo-issue-worlds-first-ev-battery-passport-ahead-eu-rules-2024-06-04/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-says-users-can-track-source-of-battery-metals-in-its-evs-54f6e4f7; https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/volvos-battery-passport-seeks-improve-ev-supply-chain-accountability

[iv] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html

[v] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/battery-passports/volvo-s-ev-battery-passport; https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volvo-issue-worlds-first-ev-battery-passport-ahead-eu-rules-2024-06-04/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-says-users-can-track-source-of-battery-metals-in-its-evs-54f6e4f7; https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/volvos-battery-passport-seeks-improve-ev-supply-chain-accountability

[vi] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/battery-passports/volvo-s-ev-battery-passport; https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volvo-issue-worlds-first-ev-battery-passport-ahead-eu-rules-2024-06-04/; https://www.wsj.com/articles/volvo-says-users-can-track-source-of-battery-metals-in-its-evs-54f6e4f7

[vii] https://www.theewastecolumn.com/database/due-diligence-obligations/the-role-of-human-rights-auditing-in-a-just-transition; https://qz.com/battery-passport-sustainable-climate-tech-1851095928; https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/silicon-shadows-venture-capital-human-rights-and-the-lack-of-due-diligence/; https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html