Abstract
The transition to e-mobility is increasingly popular. The increased demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and their batteries poses an urgent challenge. There is not enough raw material to sufficiently satisfy the current and future demand for EV batteries; and the current emissions created along the supply chain remain unacceptably high. Efficient battery recycling could avoid future bottlenecks and be a key to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. The EU legislative proposal ‘Fit for 55’ provides a promising context for improving battery recycling. In the United States, Tesla demonstrates unrivaled expertise with its level of vertical integration, keeping recycling operations ‘in-house’. Redwood materials, a battery recycling company, also helps car manufacturers recycle their batteries while keeping the costs to a minimum. In Europe there currently is no scalable, uniform, market leader solution for battery recycling. This policy statement proposes three strategies to take big bold action in Europe.
E-mobility and Battery Recycling
The future of sustainable transport depends on e-mobility. Around the world, there are many incentives, both private and public, to accelerate the transition. There is an area that does not get enough focus among policy-makers and researchers: EV battery recycling and repurposing. The EU introduced a package called ‘Fit for 55,’ with which it aims to reduce net GHG emissions by 55 percent by 2030. The transport industry is a crucial contributor to these emissions and possibly key to nurture change. With countless manufacturers ramping up their EV capacity, improving value propositions, securing key partnerships with battery manufacturers, shortening supply chains, and relying on domestic production becoming more important. While Asian competitors flood the European market, now is the time to focus on battery recycling in the EU.
Key EV Battery Recycling Issues
One of the most important reasons to accelerate the switch to e-mobility is to decrease GHG emissions and to achieve a more sustainable transport industry. However, battery processing is among the most GHG emissions loaded processes in EV manufacturing: At least 30 to 50 percent of GHG is generated during this process. Battery manufacturing in general has a greater environmental impact than for producing most ICE (internal combustion engine) components, since the majority of batteries are produced in China, one of the biggest GHG emission polluters in the world. The costs related to recycling and repurposing the batteries at scale are still higher than feasible for mainstream implementation. The most-preferred method of recycling EV batteries in theory, closed-loop, needs to be utilized more, as the ‘down-cycling’ method, preferred in practice, still will not alleviate raw material bottlenecks and reduce emissions to a desirable level. The recycling process involves the use of various sources of energy, as well as transport of batteries to facilities. This process may also generate secondary toxic gaseous emissions, water contaminants, and other unwanted gaseous and solid residues.
Recycling investments are mainly driven by profits from the sales of recycled materials. To achieve the desirable profit, the market price of recycled components needs to cover the costs of collecting, transporting, storing, and processing used battery packs, as well as a return on investment which is reasonable for the operator. In general, there is a lack of uniform, consolidated and targeted effort for battery recycling. However, the benefit to be derived from recycling them to acquire raw materials is significant: Through recycling 38% less GHG emissions are created than with original production.
Trends and Developments in the EU
A Barometer study found that more than half of Europeans believe climate change to be the most important environmental issue (52%), whereas others believe air pollution (43%) and the growing amount of waste (46%) to be the most important. Concurrently, some experts believe that the EU is not doing enough to stimulate sustainable investments, noting that additional supportive measures should be implemented to guarantee a willingness to comply with the regulations. At the same time, the EU is strengthening its regulatory framework.
As mentioned, one of the most important developments is the proposed ‘Fit for 55’ package. This package includes a set of proposals to revise and update EU legislation, and to create new initiatives with the aim of ensuring that EU policies are in line with the climate goals agreed by the Council and the European Parliament: A just and fair transition is achieved, innovation and the competitiveness of the market are retained, and the EU emerges as a global pioneer in battling climate change. It is advantageous for the EU to function as regulator to equalize the playing field regarding many industries, with an integrated market approach. One of the priorities is building an EU battery industry, for the ease of transaction, transfer of know-how, mobility of resources, transparency, and requirements for sustainability.
For this reason, the EU pursues various relevant strategies. In 2017 the European Battery Alliance was founded. It is also called the EBA250, and EIT InnoEnergy oversees the management of this alliance. BATT4EU is another initiative with the goal of making Europe a bigger player in the global battery manufacturing playing field. To continue on this path in a sustainable, integrated and innovative way – as established under Horizon Europe – the Framework Program for Research and Innovation of the European Union aims to achieve a competitive and sustainable European industrial value-chain for e-mobility and stationary applications. The EU level cohesion policy (2021-2027) for regional development investment has the following objectives: Smarter Europe and greener, carbon-free Europe allocating 65% to 85% of ERDF and Cohesion Fund resources to these priorities.
As the market grows, so does the importance of the sustainability, as well as environmental and energy performance, of the batteries. “The proposal for a regulation on batteries and waste batteries,” adopted on the 10th of December 2020 to replace the Batteries Directive of 2006, is geared towards modernizing the EU legislation on batteries to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of EU battery value chains. The proposal is part of the European Green Deal. This modernization was deemed necessary due to changed economic conditions, technological developments, markets, and battery use including the electric vehicle batteries (EV batteries). Under this proposal, battery exchange systems, battery passports, more transparent and accessible information about the capacities and limits of batteries are to be demanded, among other criteria.
Recommendations
As mentioned in other policy statements, there is great benefit in utilizing the institutions within the existing political systems, in this case the EU. As a supranational organization, which has been known to foster growth in interdisciplinary areas among its member states and has become one of the most influential forces in the world, the EU has great power to steer sustainable growth, consolidate efforts, and to unify research projects under one roof. Looking at organizations with a similarly unifying function, such as the WHO (World Health Organization), WTO (World Trade Organization), and the EU’s own institutions and bodies, it is clear that the greatest, longest-lasting impact can be achieved in this way. Therefore, the most crucial strategy is a public initiative, such as an EU-led research and funding body or organization focusing on EV batteries specifically.
One solution alone cannot be enough to change the industry. As much as public initiatives lay the basis for other projects, companies, and people to follow the sustainable innovation trajectory, they are not enough. Private initiatives are the next step to nurture a healthy level of competitiveness in the market, as free markets in Europe have allowed for growth and a diverse range of solutions. As battery manufacturers have the most comprehensive know-how and specific experience with batteries, battery manufacturers in the EU must expand their range of services and business models to become ‘lifecycle solution providers.’ They must make their processes more circular, assisting car manufacturers in their battery-related activities, and to repurpose batteries after their end-of-life.
Europe is protective of its markets. The same can be said of European car manufacturers, most of which are global players. Car manufacturers still have the biggest influence, due to their networks, budgets, stakeholder relationships, social popularity, and the increased demand. Therefore, urging car manufacturers to increase R&D efforts, rates of innovation, and to update their internal processes to allow for the quickest, most transparent, most innovation-friendly information exchange and action paths, is the last step in making sure GHG emissions through e-mobility are minimized.
Actions
E-mobility is on a positive trajectory, a key component of future transport. And to make sure that GHG emissions are decreased as quickly and effectively as possible, battery recycling is crucial. There are key issues regarding the production of EV batteries, the processes used to recycle them, and initiatives which employ end-of-life possibilities; none of which have reached desirable efficiency levels. With e-mobility interest and research growing, there are action paths to be taken within the EU: The first is to utilize the EU’s power as a supranational organization to unilaterally make change. The second is to encourage battery manufacturers to expand their services in a more circular fashion to foster lifecycle solutions, and last but not least, to urge car manufacturers to change their processes to increase innovation, collaboration, and circularity. Through a combination of these measures, an optimal return on investments, energy-efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and most importantly, the maximum reduction of GHG emissions within the EU, can be achieved by 2030.
Works Cited
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