Transport and Environment, a European network of citizens striving for decarbonization in transport and energy consumption has recently released a new study on the potential benefits that the European EV industry could achieve by implementing an effective battery recycling strategy. According to the research it could in fact reduce its dependence on imported battery minerals by up to 25% by the end of this decade. In 2030, the amounts of materials that exhausted batteries and gigafactory waste could might be high enough to support the production of some 2.4 million electric vehicles (BEVs) in Europe alone. Risks and criticalities that both the European Union and the United Kingdom will not prove able to fully exploit this huge potential are there, in T&E’s opinion.
Battery minerals recycling: no time to hesitate
To build upon it they will have to secure all of those recycling projects that, at the moment, are at serious risk to be delayed or, worse, completely cancelled. Transport and Environment, formed and backed by 57 organisations across 24 European countries, reported that battery recycling could lead the EU to fulfil its demand for cobalt almost completely over the next fifteen years. It also added that the reuse of exhausted cells and production waste altogether could provide as much as 14% of the lithium needed, plus 16% of nickel, 17% of manganese and 25% of cobalt, in 2030. Furthermore, analysts forecasted that the afore-mentioned percentages could display a significant increase over the following years, and that therefore perspectives, for European makers, are most encouraging. The director of T&E Italy Andrea Boraschi is confident that the goal can only be achieved if previously-planned initiatives are actually put in place. «If Europe manages to confirm and respect its battery recycling plans», he said, «it will be able to significantly reduce its dependence on imported critical metals. The volumes expected to be obtained from the recycling chain will guarantee the European industry enough materials to produce millions of electric cars».
A reduced need for raw materials
To recycle and reuse end-of-life battery materials also means to reduce the demand for commodities. Authors of the study pointed out that thanks to the volumes that recycling activities could provide, by 2040 and on a wider, global scale, the construction of some 12 new lithium, manganese, cobalt and nickel mines could be avoided too. Benefits are clear since, potentially, mining has enormous negative effects on the entire ecosystem, impacting waters, soil and biodiversity. On top of that, there are good chances to create further opportunities of business and therefore, hopefully, employment. First of all, should recycling activities be localised inside the European borders, then lithium’s carbon footprint would decrease too – by almost 20% – if compared to a scenario in which the mineral is mined in Australia and afterwards refined in China. It is mandatory for Europe to strongly support its local recycling industry, in T&E’s view, in order to build upon this huge economic and sustainability potential. But at the same time, the situation looks today controversial, to say the least. Almost half of Europe’s planned recycling capacity is either on hold or at risk of not being developed at all, as Transport and Environment underlined.
Top priority
This is the reason why, firmly believing that the time to hesitate is now through, the association, founded over thirty years ago and strongly committed to an environmentally-friendly paradigm for road transport, is urging both the UK and EU authorities to take concrete steps to promote recycling by implementing effective policies and dedicated funding programmes. It is Transportation and Environment’s opinion that the EU’s forthcoming proposal for a Circular Economy Act should support the expansion of the European industry, while limiting exports of battery waste and simplifying the intra-European circulation of raw materials, extracted from end-of-life batteries. Indeed, doubts still persist. «Neither the European Union or Great Britain», Andrea Boraschi noticed, «seem to be ready to seize the opportunities that recycled materials, related to the entire value chain of batteries, can offer. Almost half of the planned recycled capacity is now at risk, as said, due to high energy costs, lack of technical expertise or, finally, lack of financial support. It is now time to begin to regulate the battery recycling sector just like it happened for any other green and sustainable technology, as a key solution in the wider decarbonization framework; and to consider the industry as a real top-priority in our policies and subsidies», T&E director concluded.
