France, Aug. 18 -- All batteries in Europe, whatever their size, must now be recycled, as a European regulation comes into force requiring companies to cover the cost of their products' entire life-cycles.

The regulation, adopted in 2023 as a key pillar of the European Green Deal, is part of the European Union's drive to reduce imports of critical raw materials, such as lithium and cobalt and instead use its own, whether from new mines or recuperated from old devices.

Implemented in stages, the regulation requires as of Monday manufacturers to finance the recycling of electric batteries, which will ensure that their critical metals can be reused.

Until now, only small batteries up to 5kg were covered by the rules; now all batteries are...