Electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling is in its infancy, with the earliest EV batteries only now coming to the end of their lifecycle. Most automotive manufacturers are hesitant to take responsibility for the disposal and reuse of EV batteries. However, Ryan Melsert, Managing Director of the American Battery Technology Company, suggests more investment could precipitate a revolution in the battery recycling industry. Driving down operational costs down by retrieving precious metals from scrap, he says, could be the next step in the evolution of battery recycling and manufacturing.
Materials are in short supply and the process of mining and purifying precious metals expends vast amounts of energy and pollution. Demand is also increasing for battery materials as EV adoption grows. Sourcing precious materials from scrap and landfill could solve the latency in material supply and demand. However, this can only happen with increased investment from the automotive industry.
Better funding for EV battery recycling could create more cyclical manufacturing processes and ultimately, the construction of more sustainable EV batteries.