4R's Repair, Reman, Repurpose, Recycle

Before moving to the recycling of a battery the following options should be considered:

Repair
Remanufacture
Repurpose
Recycling

This approach can reduce cost, impact on the customer and most importantly the impact on the planet.

Batteries are not emissions and toxic waste free and so the life cycle analysis (LCA) must be considered from cradle to grave. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation whitepaper: “Leading The Charge – Turning risk into reward with a circular economy for EV batteries and critical minerals” [1] gives five clear actions [2] and the CATL CEO backs this approach:

Design batteries for circularity, not disposal
Rethink battery service within optimized energy–mobility systems
Scale circular business models that treat batteries as long-term assets
Build and co-invest in regional circular infrastructure
Enable a circular operating system through data, standards, and policy

The future energy system can be defined by three words: distributed, intelligent, and circular. Unlike fossil fuels, which are burned upon use, materials for zero-carbon energy systems can be recycled. Circularity is not just an environmental responsibility; it is the foundation of economic competitiveness and system resilience in the zero-carbon era.
Robin Zeng, CEO CATL [1]

1. Repair

Battery packs are made from a large number of parts. Often it is not the battery cells that fail and hence a repair or replacement of the failed part is logical.

2. Remanufacture

If the battery pack fails in your car it is costly to replace it with a brand new battery. One alternative is to replace it with a battery that has been remanufactured. This remanufactured pack might have been assembled using good cells/modules from a number of older battery packs. It will have been tested and will often come with some form of warranty.

This is a smart way to reduce the environmental impact.

3. Repurpose

Second Life of Batteries for Electric Vehicles

What is Second life of Batteries? Batteries have or will have a lifecycle of 10-15 years in Electric vehicles. Batteries need to be replaced in Electric Vehicles as per OEM advice once they fall to between 80% to 70% of their original capacity. But these batteries will have sufficient life left in them for other applications even at 70% to 80% capacity.

4. Recycle

State of Battery Recycling: Can we meet our LIB recycling obligations by 2030?

In the European Union, the draft of the new Battery Directive sets LIBs for electric vehicles as a new battery classification, with a set of requirements to minimize their carbon footprint. The average LIB recycling target will be approximately 70% by 2030, with the aim to recover 70% of lithium and 95% of nickel, copper, and cobalt in end-of-life batteries.

Update: this was a draft proposal at the time of the report above. The EU Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) has since been finalised and has applied since February 2024, with recycling efficiency and material recovery targets phasing in through 2027 and 2031.

Download the report for free at Prescouter.com

Battery Recycling: A Need of the hour

Lithium Ion Batteries of today use raw materials such as Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Manganese, Graphite, Aluminum. Some of them are classified as Critically rare according to a EU study.

Legislation, Rules and Regulations

EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542) is the current EU law governing battery design, due diligence, collection and recycling-efficiency targets, and it has applied since February 2024.
Directive 2006/66/EC was the previous EU battery directive, covering collection and recycling targets, before it was repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) 2023/1542.