EU Battery Regulation term for the material that chemically reacts to produce or store electric energy in a battery cell.
Active material is the electrochemically functional component within a battery cell: the material that chemically reacts during discharge or charging. The EU Battery Regulation uses the term to distinguish the energy-storing or energy-producing material from structural components, separators, electrolytes, packaging, and broader battery-material categories; it is not the same as the U.S. 45X electrode active material term.
This page uses the EU Battery Regulation definition. Keep it separate from the U.S. 45X electrode-active-material definition, which includes cathode materials, anode materials, anode foils, and additional electrochemically active inputs for manufacturing-credit purposes.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries
a material which reacts chemically to produce electric energy when the battery cell discharges or to store electric energy when the battery is being charged;
Reference: Article 3, point 5
Reviewed public draft page. Aligns with EU battery classification and operations policy: separates regulated category assignment, producer-responsibility routing, waste-chain actor evidence, chemistry evidence, and collection/treatment obligations.
Implementation records should capture material identifier, chemistry record, supplier evidence, cell or electrode link, batch/lot, mass share, recycled-content claim, origin or due-diligence status, test record, and link to the battery model or cell specification.
Active material is the chemistry-to-performance control for battery evidence. It should connect material composition, supplier evidence, cell specifications, recycled-content evidence, due diligence workflows, and sustainability claims so a chemistry claim can be traced to the material that actually drives battery function.