China is perhaps in pole position when it comes to electric vehicle (EV) adoption, accounting for over 60% of worldwide sales in 2022. This dominant position makes it a critical player in addressing one of the most pressing sustainability challenges of the electric vehicle revolution: how to recycle batteries. As the world increasingly turns to EVs to combat climate change, the question of what happens to EV batteries once they reach the end of their life has never been more urgent.
Writing in the International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, Igor Laine of LUT University in Lappeenranta, Finland, explains how the big issue is the lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries, which are used to power most of today’s EVs. These batteries contain valuable metals, including cobalt, lithium, and nickel, which are finite resources and environmentally harmful if not disposed of correctly. As demand for EVs grows, so too does the pressure on these raw materials, making effective recycling both a necessity and a challenge.
According to Laine, China has become the world’s largest manufacturer and consumer of EVs and is responding to the growing challenge of waste batteries with a strong recycling strategy. The country has implemented a variety of regulations aimed at holding manufacturers accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products. In addition to legal measures, China has invested heavily in the development of new technologies designed to improve the efficiency of battery recycling. Techniques for diagnosing battery health, dismantling old batteries, and extracting precious metals for re-use have been developed in recent years. China’s EV future could well become sustainable in terms of batteries.
However, Laine points out that China’s recycling infrastructure is not entirely mature. Recycling processes themselves could be improved in terms of efficiency. One of the major problems is that the precious metals that are at the heart of EV batteries are present with myriad other substances, all of which make extracting those metals difficult.
Extraction of the metals is the fine detail problem of battery recycling. The bigger picture sees the vast EV market in China where concerns about efficiency of battery recycling are overarched by the sheer scale of the problem, the enormous numbers involved. There is something a paradox at play with these two perspectives. On one hand, demand for EVs is growing, which means there is a constant flow of waste batteries to be harvested for the next generation of vehicles. But, the size of the market puts the potential for scalable sustainability out of reach, at least for the time being.
Laine’s work suggests that the regulatory approach to EV battery recycling taken by China represents a drive in the right direction. However, to address the big problems might require an international stance, a global collective effort. International cooperation could help with research and development into recycling technology and allow standardized recycling practices to be established. The path to truly sustainable battery recycling needs innovation, regulation, and collaboration.
Laine, I. (2024) ‘The evolving frontiers of sustainability and innovation: analysing China’s approach to electric vehicle battery recycling’, Int. J. Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp.342–357.
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