Global lithium-ion battery recycling capacity is projected to boom before the end of this decade reaching at least 7.2 million tonnes by 2025, Kallanish learns from Rystad Energy. 

Based on announced projects, Rystad anticipates a particular growth in capacity during 2024-2025, with Eastern Asian countries taking the lead. Alongside being a key producer and consumer of lithium-ion batteries, Asia also has a heavy concentration of battery supply chain, enabling it to establish closed-loop battery recycling systems. 

By 2025, China is estimated to account for around 90% of the global recycling capacities, the consultancy says in a new whitepaper. Several projects are already under various stages of development in the country, including Ganzhou Tianqi Recycling (150,000 t/y), Chizhou Xien New Material Technology (200,000 t/y) and New Era Group Zhejiang Zhongneng (300,000 t/y). While China is at the forefront of global battery recycling, other Asian countries such as ​​South Korea, Japan and Singapore are also “actively” developing their capacities. 

Europe has shown “great ambition” in developing a “strong recycling loop,” with the US “picking up quickly,” the paper adds. In Europe, the battery recycling market has just begun booming, primarily driven by the economic need for an alternative raw material source. By 2027, the region's mechanical and metallurgical recycling capacities are predicted to reach over 1m t/y. Stena Recycling, Hydrovolt and Accurec-Recycling already operate some recycling plants in the region, while Volkswagen runs a pilot plant. Other planned projects include Basf's 15,000 t/y in Germany and Li-Cycle's 70,000 t/y in Italy. 

The North American planned recycling capacity, on the other hand, is projected to cross 150,000 t/y by 2030, led by Tesla, Volvo, Ford and LG Energy Solution. Redwood Materials, Ascend Elements and Li-Cycle already operate plants in the US.

According to Rystad, the existing battery intake capacity for mechanical and metallurgical recycling globally stands at 1.97m t. This year, 1.32m t of new capacity is expected to be added, followed by 2.78m t in 2024 and 1.69m t in 2025.

“Battery recycling has emerged as the most practical remedy to address supply chain concerns of potential battery minerals shortfalls as electric vehicle (EV) adoption rates accelerate,” Rystad notes. However, the limited availability of feedstock remains a key barrier, alongside cheaper costs of new cells and regulation gaps.