EOL battery value-chain and data issues: current situation and future perspectives

The following blog post provides a summary and outlook of the analysis ran by our partner Recyclia, in the framework of our project. To read the full report: D2.1 End-of-life battery value chain and data issues: current situation and future perspectives

Electric vehicles (EVs), such as Battery EVs (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) are progressively making their way into the EU market. The number of new EVs registrations in the EU has steadily increased each year, from 600 in 2010 to almost 1,061,000 units in 2020, when they accounted for 11% of new registrations. EVs registrations increased dramatically in 2021, accounting for about 18% of newly registered passenger cars.

As observed, the development of the EV industry is dependent on the European market we are targeting.

‍

This End-of-Life battery value chain involves a diverse range of actors, regarding the production, usage, reuse, recycle, researching and legislation. To better understand the size we are talking about, the main actors involved in this value chain are: regulatory bodies, research institutions & facilities, innovators, battery manufacturers, original equipment organisations (OEMs), car producers, battery logistic companies, transporters, car dealers, end-users, reuse businesses, authorised repair shops, scrapyards, producer responsibility organisations, waste batteries' collectors, sorting plants, battery recyclers and environmental organisations.

All these actors work together from the very beginning of the battery production process to the end of life that we are researching about. During this life cycle, there are some actors that provide actions to the system and, consequently, make the European market one of the strongest EVs markets in the world, only behind China. These are the four growth market drivers:

• Regulation bodies: stringent government regulations to reduce carbon emissions globally
• Original Equipment Manufacturers: rapid investments in R&D (including European R&D projects such as FREE4LIB) by BEV OEMs in Europe and North America
• Distributors and Suppliers in general: growing demand for lower cost and cleaner transport solutions in Asia Pacific
• End-Users: Strong demand for premium EVs in Europe and the Middle East

On the other hand, every actor involved in this value chain needs to achieve several challenges. To highlight the most important: assuring the supply of minerals, deficient infrastructure and technology of reverse logistics, battery passport (DBP) implementation, critical raw materials coming back to Asia and the collaboration between EU stakeholders.

The future won’t only bring challenges, it will also provide the sector with opportunities such as feasible solution for batteries recycling, DBP openness, recycling plants and fulfilment of the battery production-recycling gap.

But have in mind that the little change in a sector brings a huge number of uncertainties to overcome: second life vs recycling, battery composition & State of Health, future collection & recycling technologies, legislation, consumer awareness and collaboration between EU stakeholders.

The EU has a well-established recycling infrastructure that needs to grow to properly manage the future battery demand in the continent.

Read the full deliverable to see a map with the main recycling plants expected in the coming years.

You will also get a deep insight into the following aspects:

• Pros and cons of the main recycling process (direct recycling, pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy)
• Inventory of policies and regulations from the most important economies (EU, USA and China) and International.
• In addition, it is provided a comparative table EU/USA/China with the main regulations and standards
• Insight into the key EU policies and its new battery regulation roadmap, recycling regulatory framework analysis and a list of barriers and risks (environmental, economic & social).