EU retains battery recycling targets: 50% lithium recovery required by the end of 2027
The European Commission’s latest assessment finds the current targets appropriate. Lithium material recovery and the overall recycling efficiency of lithium-based batteries are separate metrics and require separate calculations.
Latest assessment retains existing targets
On 11 September 2026, the European Commission published its assessment that the current recycling-efficiency and material-recovery targets in the Batteries and Waste Batteries Regulation remain appropriate, with no basis for revising them at present. The assessment did not announce a postponement of the 2027 lithium-recovery target.
Material recovery and overall recycling efficiency are different
Under Annex XII, by 31 December 2027 at the latest, lithium recovery must reach at least 50%, while cobalt, copper, lead and nickel must each reach at least 90%. By 31 December 2031, these targets rise to 80% and 95% respectively. The 50% figure concerns lithium material recovery; it is neither a waste-battery collection rate nor the proportion of an entire lithium battery recovered by mass. Overall recycling efficiency for lithium-based batteries is assessed separately by average weight: the target is 65% by the end of 2025 and 70% by the end of 2030. Project accounting should record overall recycling efficiency and the recovery of each target material separately.
Connecting data across the treatment chain
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606 sets calculation and verification methods and documentation formats. The information covers battery chemistry, inputs and outputs, intermediate fractions, subsequent treatment facilities, final output destinations and yields. Black mass is an intermediate fraction whose metals require further processing; black-mass output must not be treated directly as final material recovery.
Preparing records for relevant projects
Recycling projects subject to relevant EU requirements can use these accounting elements to organise material records and data handovers between upstream and downstream operators, checking intermediate-material transfers separately from final material-recovery data. This is an approach to organising project information, not a complete statutory compliance checklist. Specific responsibilities depend on the operator’s role, treatment location and applicable provisions. Equipment capacity or the yield of a single process alone cannot demonstrate that the complete recycling chain meets regulatory targets.