"EU 'Battery Passport' to be Implemented in 2026... Korea Needs Tracking System"

"Battery Production, Usage, and Recycling Traceability... Expansion to All Products
Development of Battery Passport Platforms in Germany and Japan... China Already Utilizing"

Electric vehicle battery production line. (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Starting in 2026, as information on the entire lifecycle of batteries?including production, use, disposal, reuse, and recycling?must be recorded and submitted to the European Union (EU), there are calls for South Korea to respond swiftly.

On the 24th, the Korea International Trade Association’s Institute for International Trade and Commerce released a report titled "The Necessity of a Traceability Platform Examined through the EU Battery Passport." Since the EU has announced policies requiring disclosure of product history and compliance with environmental regulations within the supply chain for products traded within the region, South Korea must also establish a digital product traceability system.

According to the report, the EU plans to introduce a "passport" system starting with batteries in 2026 and, in the mid-to-long term, extend it to nearly all products traded within the region, while building a digital circular economy platform.

The "battery passport" is a system that digitally records and shares all lifecycle information of batteries, including production, use, disposal, reuse, and recycling. This aims to enhance battery safety, optimize usage, and promote recycling. The "digital product passport" expands this concept beyond batteries to all physical goods, enabling consumers to assess the sustainability of product supply chains in advance and make informed purchases.

In response to the EU’s initiatives, major countries such as Germany and Japan are acting quickly. Germany was the first EU member state to begin developing a battery passport platform. A consortium of 11 companies, including BMW, Umicore, and BASF, has launched the "Battery Pass" project to collect and utilize battery information.

In Japan, the privately-led Battery Supply Chain Council (BASC) designed a "Japanese-style battery supply chain digital platform" in April, compatible with and expandable to the EU battery passport system. This platform is seen as Japan’s response to the introduction of the EU battery passport system.

China is considered the most advanced in building battery traceability and recycling platforms. Since 2018, China has been operating a "battery traceability platform" to supervise the responsibility and compliance of electric vehicle battery recycling. As of January last year, over 4,067,000 new energy vehicles were registered. Since August of the same year, companies involved in battery reuse have been required to input battery information, which is expected to rapidly accumulate traceability data.

Researcher Kim Heeyoung advised, "South Korea must expedite the establishment of a digital traceability system to build a battery circular economy." She added, "Since traceability is expected to expand beyond batteries to all products, the government should provide institutional support for building digital platforms, and companies within the supply chain should begin efforts toward recycling and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) compliance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.