From January 1, 2026, a new environmental contribution will be levied on all new electric vehicles. This contribution will be used to finance the collection and recycling of batteries under the auspices of the management body Febelauto.
This measure applies to all batteries weighing more than 25 kg. It comes at a time when the volume of batteries to be collected and recycled is starting to increase: according to Febelauto, this has increased from 31.5 tons in 2021 to 412 tons in 2025. “Used batteries for the propulsion of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles therefore represent the challenge of tomorrow. Their number will increase exponentially in the coming years. By starting this today, we ensure that these batteries also find their place in the circular economy. economy,” explains Catherine Lenaerts, director of Febelauto.
The batteries collected by Febelauto are sent to specialized processing companies, which recover valuable materials such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and copper and make them available to the industry. Other batteries can be given a second life in stationary energy storage systems through partners such as Watt4Ever.
The new environmental contribution for batteries is in addition to the environmental contribution for sustainable recycling of the vehicle. It varies depending on the type of chemistry (e.g. twice as high for an LFP battery as for an NMC battery) and according to weight. For example, an environmental contribution of 100 euros will be charged for a 520 kg battery, such as the one Renault uses for the Master E-Tech Electric. For batteries of more than one tonne, a rate of 0.2 euros/kg applies.
