Circular Energy Storage Research & Consulting (CEC), the London-based battery market data company, said electric vehicle (EV) market slowdown and problems for battery manufacturers predict a difficult situation for the supply chain, e.g. manufacturers of cathodes and other vital components.
In a new report on battery recycling in Europe, Hans-Eric Melin, Managing Director of CEC said the past year has been challenging for battery recycling in Europe. “Material values in scrap cells declined by 11–15%, depending on chemistry,” he said.
“Although this was far from the freefall of 50–60% in 2023, it continued to put pressure on recyclers’ profits, not least when older inventory needed to be realised. The decline in battery production had a direct impact on the scrap generation from battery manufacturing plants.”
CEC said the prospects of a future European battery recycling industry have changed dramatically. “We have witnessed several suspensions of planned recycling plants. Announced and anticipated future material recovery capacity in Europe has been reduced by as much as 49% of previously assessed capacity in 2030. Of the remaining projects, several are highly uncertain.”
Melin sees severe problems in the EV market: “When the EU targets for 2025 are achieved, there is no next stepping stone until 2030 when the EV sales ratio likely must be around 50%. If it took 15 years to get 20% of the European car buyers to choose electric, how on earth should we get another 30% to do the same in only five years?”
According to the EU’s Critical Material Act, the EU should by 2030 have capacity to process 40% of the so-called strategic materials in EV batteries. The bloc should also have the capacity to supply 25% of the strategic materials by recycling waste materials. For the battery industry, this is much more capacity than available feedstock.