Modern battery technology now achieves amazing things on ebikes. But there’s one thing even it cannot do – stop time. At some point, every ebike battery will have reached the end of its service life and will need to be replaced. This means disposing of the worn-out battery correctly and in an environmentally friendly manner. This is set to become even easier in Germany from summer 2025. In this overview, you can find out what additional options will soon be available for returning your ebike battery and whether the service will remain free of charge.
1. How can an ebike battery currently be disposed of correctly?
2. How well do the current structures work?
3. What will change in the take-back of batteries in 2025?
4. When will the Batterierecht-Durchführungsgesetz come into force?
5. Will there be costs for disposal in future?
6. What are the advantages of disposing of and recycling ebike batteries?
1. How can an ebike battery currently be disposed of correctly?
Even though all of you probably know this, it is important to emphasise it first: The most important provision for the disposal of batteries – whether ebike or other electrical appliance – is the ban on disposal in household waste. Usually, we are talking about a lithium-ion battery in the case of an ebike battery. This contains flammable hazardous substances. A defective or damaged battery can come into contact with flammable substances in household waste and thus cause fires.
An ebike battery represents an industrial battery. Unlike used batteries from electrical appliances, you are not allowed to simply hand it in at the usual collection points such as supermarkets, drugstores, DIY stores, electrical stores or recycling centres. Bicycle shops are the first port of call. They are connected to special return systems and take back ebike batteries free of charge.
In addition to specialist bike shops, you can take your old battery for recycling to the following locations:
- Specialist electrical shops
- DIY stores: Provided the sales area of the shop is at least 400 square metres and it stocks electrical appliances.
- Supermarkets: Provided that the sales area of the shop is at least 400 square metres and it stocks electrical appliances.
- Recycling and reusable material centres: These centres are generally not obliged to take back ebike batteries. Usually, they only offer the service if special containers are available in which the batteries can be stored separately. The staff must also be specially trained.
The respective facilities cooperate with selected companies that specialise in collecting the batteries. Large parts of the bicycle trade in Germany, for example, work together with GRS Batterien Service GmbH. Together with the bicycle industry association ZIV, it brings together 160 manufacturers and importers from the bicycle industry under the GRS eMobility initiative. Comparable companies are the European Recycling Platform (ERP) Deutschland GmbH or Call2Recycle in the USA.
Important: To return the battery, you must remove it from the ebike. Ideally, you will still find the original packaging and can put it in there. If the battery is permanently integrated into the frame, it must be removed professionally. You may be able to do this yourself with the help of appropriate instructions. Alternatively, any bike shop can do this.
2. How well do the current structures work?
In principle, the current system already appears to be well developed. GRS eMobility alone operates around 2,700 collection points in Germany. According to GRS Batterien, around 223.5 tonnes of industrial batteries were collected in 2023 and 100 per cent of these were sent for recycling. As over 70 per cent of the mass of a battery can be recycled, this sounds like an impressive result. On the other hand, there are statistics from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection – even if they are much older. Its analysis for 2018 showed that only around 3.6 per cent of ebike batteries were returned compared to the number sold that year. Another statistic for 2022 shows a quantity of 60,585 tonnes sold and 29,658 tonnes collected for the ‘other batteries’ category, which also includes ebike batteries. This corresponds to a collection rate of 48.21 per cent.
3. What will change in the take-back of batteries in 2025?
The figures clearly show that a massive proportion of used ebike batteries are probably still being thrown away instead of being disposed of properly. This is set to change in the coming year. Ebike batteries will then be treated partially in the same way as used batteries from electrical appliances when it comes to disposal. Presumably from August 2025, you will be able to hand them in at any recycling centre in Germany. The same applies to e-scooter batteries.
Expanding the take-back points to include recycling centres will simplify the return process and increase the proportion of batteries containing lithium, from which important raw materials can be recovered and recycled. At least that is the hope of the German government. At the beginning of November, it passed the draft bill for the new Batterierecht-Durchführungsgesetz (BattDG) by cabinet resolution. The starting point for this is the EU Battery Regulation (EU-BattVO), which has been in force since February 2024. Among other things, it regulates the disposal of ebike batteries throughout the European Union. Germany must transpose this European requirement into national law by the deadline.
At present, not all local authorities are prepared for the legislation that will soon come into force. In many places, public waste disposal organisations must now be appropriately empowered to meet the new take-back obligations.
4. When will the Batterierecht-Durchführungsgesetz come into force?
The current Federal Government’s plans envisage the BattDG coming into force on 18 August 2025. Until then, the current Batteries Act (BattG) will apply. Following approval by the Federal Cabinet, the bill will next be scrutinised by the Federal Council. It will then go back to the Bundestag for a final vote.
5. Will there be costs for disposal in future?
As before, you can return your ebike battery free of charge under the new Batterierecht-Durchführungsgesetz. This applies regardless of which take-back centre you take the battery to or how many batteries you want to dispose of.
6. What are the advantages of disposing of and recycling ebike batteries?
The list of raw materials that can be recovered from old ebike batteries is long. After proper recycling, valuable materials such as steel, aluminium and plastics, battery raw materials such as nickel, graphite, copper and cobalt as well as electronic components can be used for new batteries or other products. This form of circular economy conserves existing resources, partially prevents the extraction of new resources and reduces dependency on other countries. Together with other concepts such as remanufacturing, recycling helps to produce industrial goods in a more environmentally friendly, climate-friendly and cost-efficient way than was the case in the past.
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Pictures: GRS Batterien Service GmbH; Bosch eBike Systems; Veolia Environnement SA
