Recycling has potential to reduce EU’s EV battery metal imports

It has recently become clear that Europe has the potential to cut its reliance on EV battery mineral imports by an estimated quarter by the end of the decade. This could be done through promoting recycling and this estimation was reported by a recent study, published by Transport & Environment (T&E).

This study revealed that materials retrieved from end-of-life batteries and gigafactory scrap, has the potential to be able to build an estimated 2.4 million EVs locally in 2030. However, along with this study, T&E also suggested that doing this may not be possible if the EU and the UK do not support and aid the recycling projects which are currently at risk of being cancelled.

Within the research, it was suggested that recycling EV minerals in Europe could make it possible to avoid the need for twelve new mines globally by the year 2040. These mines would be dedicated as follows, four lithium, three nickel, four cobalt and one manganese. If this is done successfully, then it might make it possible for these proportions could rise dramatically and this would lead to the regional becoming close to being self-sufficient in cobalt. This self-sufficiency in cobalt would be particularly useful for electric cars in 2040.

On top of this, working to promote and bring regular and common recycling into Europe, especially with its cleaner electricity grid, would also present the opportunity to cut the carbon footprint which is produced when sourcing lithium by 19%. This would be an excellent reduction, when it is compared to extracting it in Australia and then proceeding to refine it in China.

Along with their point to the EU and the UK about recycling, T&E is also stating that the EU’s Circular Economy Act should be looking to support a wider range of localised recycling factories. Along with this, the company is also suggesting that the act should be focused on restricting the exports of battery waste and also simplifying the shipment of end-of-life battery materials inside of Europe.

The idea and practise of recycling and encouraging recycling has become a focus point, because it is now clear that recycling spent cells, as well as production scrap has the potential to provide essential materials which Europe will soon require for electric cars by 2030. These materials include items such as 14% of lithium, 16% of the nickel, 17% of the manganese and finally, 25% of the cobalt.

Julia Poliscanova, a senior director at T&E, commented, ‘If Europe delivers on its recycling plans, it can slash its reliance on imported critical metals. The expected volumes of locally recovered materials can enable Europe to build millions of clean electric vehicles locally.’

Poliscanova continued, ‘Neither the EU nor the UK are ready to capture the recycling opportunity. Almost half of the planned recycling capacity is at risk due to high energy costs, a shortage of technical expertise or a lack of financial support. It’s time to start treating battery recycling like another clean tech and prioritise it in our policy and grant making.’