From the European proposal for the Battery Regulation (draft January 2023) and the European Waste Directive we adopt the following definitions for NOWOS activities:

Prevention

‘prevention’ means measures taken before a substance, material or product has become waste, that reduce:

1. the quantity of waste, including through the re-use of products or the extension of the life span of products;

2. the adverse impacts of the generated waste on the environment and human health; or

3. the content of harmful substances in materials and products;

Explanation: NOWOS focuses on the repair of batteries that are not waste, to extend the first life of a battery and to avoid a waste status of this battery.

Prevention is the highest goal for politicians, governments and legislators and aligns with the goals of the European Green Deal.

Repair

‘repair’ means any operation by which products or components that are not waste are re-used for the same purpose for which they were conceived;

Explanation: NOWOS focuses on the repair of batteries that are not waste, to extend the first life of a battery within the UN38.3 restrictions, so it can be re-used for the same purpose.

Remanufacturing

‘remanufacturing’ means any technical operation on a used battery that includes the disassembly and evaluation of all its battery modules and cells and the use of a certain amount of battery cells and modules, new, used or recovered from waste, or other battery components, to restore the battery capacity to at least 90% of the original rated battery capacity, and where the state of health of all individual battery cells is homogeneous, not differing more than 3% from one another, and results in the battery being used for the same purpose or application than the one for which the battery was originally designed;

Explanation: NOWOS supports the remanufacturing of batteries (on request of the manufacturer) that are not waste, so they can be used for the same purpose or application for which the battery was originally designed and prevent them to become waste.

Repacking

Battery repacking refers to the process of replacing old or worn-out cells within a battery pack with new or refurbished ones while reusing the original casing and electronic components. This is often done to extend the life of the battery pack or to upgrade its capacity.

This activity happens during the remanufacturing process. Depending on the project, Nowos may not offer this, in-house or via a third party. Please contact us to know more.

Repurposing, ‘second-life’

‘repurposing’ means any operation that results in parts or the complete battery that is not a waste battery, being used for a different purpose or application than the one that the battery was originally designed for. Repurposing is also known as Second-life.

Explanation: NOWOS supports the repurposing of battery parts or complete batteries that are not waste, to be used in new/different applications to prevent them from becoming waste.

Other definitions used in the industry:

Reconditioning & Regeneration

Reconditioning of a battery or its cells refers to the process of restoring their capacity and performance closer to their original state. This involves various techniques aimed at reversing the degradation that occurs during normal usage.

Regeneration is a more specific term that often refers to techniques aimed at reversing chemical processes that degrade the battery.

Nowos does not cover these activities. We have partners that may support us in this however our core activities are repair, remanufacturing and repurposing.