North American Battery Recycling Capacity Will Need to Expand Ahead of the Coming Wave of Retired Batteries

Existing and planned electric vehicle battery recycling infrastructure is sufficient to handle retired lithium-ion batteries through 2030, but as more batteries reach the end of their useful lives in the coming years, continued expansion will be necessary. That's the finding of a recently published peer-reviewed article, "Future battery recycling in North America: Capacity expansion under shifting demand and circular strategies," co-authored by Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Clean Transportation Program Scientist Dr. Jessica Dunn.

According to the article, recycling capacity may need to expand substantially by 2035 depending on battery lifetimes, battery size, materials left over from battery production and other factors. The researchers also found that cross-border movement of vehicles and batteries complicate projections and could make coordinated recycling systems across North America important for recovering critical materials from batteries. Dr. Dunn's previous research has shown that recycling can reduce the need for newly mined battery minerals, but strong policies are necessary to ensure that minerals are recovered at high rates and that recycling is done using low-impact processes with strong safeguards.

Additional resources:

• Blog (Dr. Dunn): How Many Minerals Do We Really Need for EV Batteries?

• Blog (Dr. Dunn): Can EV Batteries Be Used Again?

• Blog (Dr. Dunn): How are EV Batteries (Actually) Recycled?