Lithium-ion battery industry ramps up recycling focus as geopolitical events challenge supply chain
By Katie Pyzyk Waste Dive
Recent geopolitical events — including Russia’s war in Ukraine, the domestic infrastructure law, and President Joe Biden’s invocation of the Defense Production Act — are impacting the supply of critical minerals used in lithium-ion battery manufacturing and contributing to soaring commodity prices. Businesses dependent on lithium-ion batteries are exploring investments and advancements in battery recycling as ways to ease these metal supply-chain concerns.
“Recycling lithium-ion batteries is an important part of ensuring a healthy supply chain,” said Jeff Spangenberger, director of the ReCell Center, a consortium based at Argonne National Laboratory that advances battery recycling research and development. “This is a new industry, for the most part, compared to a lot of other recycling industries. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”
About 99% of raw and component materials for the batteries are produced outside the U.S., and the domestic supply chain is in its infancy. In December, the U.S. Department of Energy released a list of 13 new domestic electric vehicle battery manufacturing plants that are scheduled to come online in the next five years, eight of which are joint ventures between battery manufacturers and automakers. Most of the current focus on lithium-ion battery recycling is on recovering passenger vehicle batteries because the commercial EV market is still in its infancy.
The DPA’s stated intent is to boost critical mineral supply to meet clean energy needs through mining, recycling and identifying unconventional sources. President Biden invoked it in March in response to soaring gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Former President Donald Trump previously signed executive orders to boost the critical minerals supply as well. Recycling batteries recover critical minerals for reuse in new, domestically-produced batteries and reduces U.S. dependence on foreign virgin materials in tight supply.
“In order for the industry to be sustainable, and to de-risk it, it’s very important to localize in North America,” said Michael Insulan, vice president of commercial at Toronto-based battery recycler Electra Battery Materials Corp. The company’s battery materials industrial park in Ontario, Canada, is expected to begin pilot production later this year. Following a four-phase expansion, the campus eventually will house a Li-ion battery recycling facility, plants for refining and processing cobalt and nickel, and a facility to manufacture the cobalt and nickel into next-step battery materials.
Despite its relative newness, Li-ion battery recycling is expanding quickly. That’s a good thing, sources say, because battery demand is ballooning. Demand is so high for these commodities that recycling alone will not boost supply enough.
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“This is an extraordinarily rapid growth market, so the supply challenge is tremendous — maybe a bigger supply challenge than the world has seen in several decades,” Insulan said.
Commodity crunch
Metals including lithium, nickel and cobalt are essential for the transition to clean energy technologies powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels. Electric vehicles and their batteries are at the forefront of that movement. In April, the CEO of EV startup Rivian warned of a looming battery shortage as demand for EVs rises, signaling the critical mineral shortfall and the largely unbuilt battery supply chain.
For example, Russia’s war in Ukraine is disrupting that country’s dominant mining and processing industries for metals, including nickel. And the goal of some funding for EV charging stations in the 2021 infrastructure law is to spur additional EV adoption; that’s driving up EV and battery material demand. The crunch is pushing already volatile metal markets to new heights.
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