Recycling Batteries

This study provides highlights on battery recycling industry trends, in the context of a fast-changing regulatory environment. Sia Partners draws on its sectoral expertise to provide a global overview of the battery recycling market and its mid-term perspective. 

• Batteries are regarded as one of the fundamental tools to build a carbon neutral trajectory for direct and energy emissions, contributing to the objective of carbon neutrality across all up and downstream activities.  

• Given the increasing pressure on critical materials (lithium, cobalt, nickel) associated with the surge in battery production, lawmakers are imposing a stringent regulatory framework and higher recovery rates. This trend is also reflected by numerous standards shaped by the battery manufacturing industry itself. 

• In this context, the recycling industry promises to be a booming market: it is expected to grow by an average of 8% per year until 2030. Most of the growth potential is concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, where China already accounts for 70% of the region's recycling capacity. 

• Three main player categories in this promising market have been identified so far: recycling pure players, EV manufacturers and energy & raw materials suppliers. 

• Yet, these actors will have to cope with an unequal level of recyclability depending on the battery components and the selected recycling technology. 

With regard to this observation, Sia Partners offers a comparative assessment of the value added for two common types of Li-ion batteries. At this stage, recycling is generally deemed profitable, although its profitability strongly varies with the battery chemical composition and the raw material stock price.