Global battery recycling volumes are set to increase sharply after 2030 – the biggest rise will be 343% in volume of light electric vehicle batteries available for recycling between 2030 and 2035.
The eighth annual report from the UK’s Circular Energy Storage said volumes of batteries available for reuse in 2035 will be larger than the entire lithium-ion battery market in 2020 (23.3GWh in 2023 versus 376.1GWh in 2035).
Hans Eric Melin, managing director of Circular Energy Storage, said the massive rise in recycling volume from light EVs will ease in ensuing years. “Less than 10% of EVs and most EV battery types reach end of life before they are 10 years. This means that EVs that were placed on the market by the end of 2010s such as Tesla Model 3 will not reach end of life in really large quantities until after 2030. This is the first time this is happening so the relative growth is very high,” he added.
Recycled feedstock will still make up less than 12% of the demand in 2035. This is due to the rapidly growing battery market which is expected to continue expansion in all existing segments while other emerging applications such as rail, long-distance shipping and aviation will generate additional growth, it said.
The share of end-of-life batteries from light electric vehicles that will be available for recycling instead of reuse will increase from 27% in 2023 to 79% in 2035.
Batteries from light EVs, which in 2023 made up only 12.3% of the global end-of-life volumes, will make up 50.2% of batteries in 2035 that either will be reused or recycled.
He added that the challenge for recyclers is to build a strong position while volumes are still low to be able to profit from it when more feedstock becomes available.
The term “available for recycling” means the batteries are in the hands of recyclers, but may not be recycled in the same market, nor right away.
Image: Global battery recycling volumes are set to increase sharply after 2030, with biggest rise in light EV batteries. Circular Energy Storage
