Exide Technologies Srl and ERP Italia have launched a strategic partnership to build an integrated, compliant end‑of‑life management model for automotive and industrial batteries, aligning collection and recycling with the new EU and Italian regulatory framework.
Effective from 1 April 2026, the agreement combines Exide’s industrial know‑how in lead‑acid and lithium‑ion storage solutions with ERP Italia’s established collective scheme for WEEE and waste batteries. The goal is to define clear processes for collection, treatment and recycling so that valuable materials are channelled back into the production loop while producers can meet extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations in a more structured way. In practice, Exide will continue to finance end‑of‑life operations based on its market volumes, while the collective system ensures transparent allocation of quotas, nationwide coverage and proportional contribution across the producer base.
Traceability and RENAP readiness
The partnership is explicitly designed around a tightening regulatory context, including new traceability requirements, the launch of Italy’s National Producers Register (RENAP) and the progressive implementation of the EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542. RENAP consolidates existing registers for WEEE, batteries and packaging into a single platform for monitoring EPR schemes, making data quality and process control central to compliance. Exide and ERP Italia are working on an operating model that covers the full value chain—from placing batteries on the market through to certified recycling—so that producers can manage future obligations, including reporting and digital traceability, with a consistent set of procedures and datasets.
Operational benefits for OEMs and the value chain
From an operational standpoint, the integrated model is intended to simplify compliance for OEMs and aftermarket operators that rely on Exide’s starter, traction and stationary batteries in automotive, motive power, UPS, telecoms and energy storage applications. By standardising workflows and data interfaces across collection points, treatment facilities and recyclers, the scheme should reduce administrative complexity and lower the barrier to meeting collection and recycling targets defined by EU and national legislation. ERP Italia’s role as a pan‑European PRO within the Landbell Group means that multinational producers can potentially leverage harmonised practices and economies of scale across multiple markets, rather than managing fragmented national systems. For the electric powertrain ecosystem, this translates into more predictable end‑of‑life channels for SLI, traction and industrial batteries, supporting closed‑loop material flows and helping OEMs document recycled content and carbon footprint along the battery lifecycle.
Industrial footprint and circular‑economy positioning
Exide operates 11 manufacturing plants and three recycling facilities in Europe, with a 5,000‑strong workforce and annual energy‑storage sales of around 1.5 billion euros, which gives the company significant leverage over upstream and downstream logistics. The new partnership reinforces a strategy explicitly centred on recycling, sustainability and environmental responsibility, aligning production and recovery infrastructures in a way that reduces CO2 footprint through local supply chains. For ERP Italia, the collaboration extends a track record that includes more than 100,000 tonnes of portable batteries and over 4 million tonnes of WEEE collected to date, positioning the consortium as a key compliance and operations partner for large battery manufacturers in the transition to the new EU regulatory regime.
