Second Life Battery Passports
Under Article 40(11) of EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542, an operator who repurposes or remanufactures a battery assumes full manufacturer obligations. They must issue a new Digital Product Passport for that battery. DPP Cloud supports this through a linked second life passport system.
The regulatory basis
When a battery reaches the end of its first application — for example, an EV traction battery that is removed and repurposed for stationary grid storage — the operator taking over the battery becomes a manufacturer under the regulation. This means they must:
- Issue a new DPP with their identity as the economic operator.
- Record current State of Health as a new baseline.
- Provide a new Declaration of Conformity.
- Submit the new passport to the EU DPP Registry.
The original passport is not transferred. It is permanently retired and readable for provenance. The new passport links back to the original via a parent passport reference — this chain is auditable by regulators, recyclers, and subsequent operators.
Step 1 — Retiring the battery (original operator)
Before a second life operator can create a new passport, the original operator must formally retire the battery.
Open the passport
Go to Passports in your dashboard and open the passport for the battery being retired.
Click "Retire this battery"
This button appears on active first-life passports. It is in the Actions section of the passport detail page.
Confirm retirement
A confirmation dialog explains that this action marks the battery as retired and cannot be undone. Click "Retire battery" to confirm.
Status changes
The passport status changes to "Retired — End of First Life". The GS1 Digital Link QR code remains scannable — it now shows a retirement notice and provenance data on the public viewer.
Once retired, the passport status cannot be changed back to Active. Only retire a battery when it has genuinely left your possession for repurposing or remanufacturing.
The original passport remains readable. Anyone scanning the original QR code sees the full provenance record plus a link to the second life passport once one exists.
Step 2 — Creating a second life passport (second life operator)
The second life operator must have their own DPP Cloud account. They create a new passport through the standard passport creation wizard, selecting "Second Life Battery" as the battery type.
Go to Passports → Create Passport
Open the new passport wizard from your dashboard.
Select "Second Life Battery"
On the Battery Type screen, choose the Second Life Battery option. This opens the second life wizard flow.
Look up the original passport
Enter the original battery's GTIN (14-digit number from the label) or the original DPP Cloud passport ID. DPP Cloud will find the original passport across all organisations.
Review original data
The wizard displays the original passport data read-only. This includes battery chemistry, composition, carbon footprint declaration, and rated capacity. You cannot edit these fields — they carry over verbatim into your new passport.
Enter new operational fields
Provide the fields that describe the battery's second life: intended application (e.g. stationary storage), new intended service life, current State of Health, conformity assessment reference, and Declaration of Conformity reference.
Review and create
Check all data, then create the passport. It starts as a Draft.
Activate
Activate the passport to generate a new GS1 Digital Link QR code. This QR code is distinct from the original — print it on any new labelling applied to the battery for its second life application.
What carries over from the original passport
The following fields are pulled verbatim from the original passport and cannot be edited:
- Battery chemistry (cathode, anode, electrolyte)
- Manufacturer name, manufacturing date, manufacturing place
- Cell chemistry composition percentages (cobalt, lithium, nickel, graphite)
- Hazardous substances list
- Recycled content percentages
- Carbon footprint declaration (as declared by the original manufacturer)
- Original GTIN (the physical identifier does not change)
- Original rated capacity (design specification, not current SoH)
What you provide as the second life operator
- Your economic operator identity (pre-filled from your account)
- Intended application (EV traction / Stationary storage / LMT / Industrial / Other)
- New intended service life (years)
- Current State of Health at the start of second life (your assessment — this becomes the new baseline)
- Module A conformity assessment reference
- EU Declaration of Conformity reference
Billing
Second life passport activations are billed at the standard per-passport rate. There is no separate pricing for second life passports.
The provenance chain
Once the second life passport is activated, both passports display the link between them:
- The original passport on the public viewer shows: "A second life passport has been issued for this battery" with a link to the new passport.
- The second life passport on the public viewer shows a Provenance section: original operator, retirement date, and a link back to the original passport.
This chain is permanent and tamper-evident. Regulators, recyclers, and future operators can always trace a battery's complete history.
You do not need a special account type to create second life passports. Any live DPP Cloud account with account_role = manufacturer can create a second life passport. The distinction is recorded at the passport level, not the account level.
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EU Battery Regulation compliance — 18 February 2027 deadline.