Ellen MacArthur Foundation forms new battery circularity partnership

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has partnered with Chinese battery maker CATL on an initiative to drive battery circularity.

CATL is the world’s largest producer of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, and is the first renewable technology leader to join the Ellen MacArthur Net Work as a strategic partner.

The importance of circular battery supply chains

Improving battery circularity is crucial in the sustainable transition for two reasons. First, demand for the minerals used in batteries, including lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth metals, is expected to soar in the coming years, and digging them out of the earth comes with a significant environmental and social impact.

Second, if batteries are not properly disposed of or recycled at the end of their productive life, they create toxic waste that can contaminate the soil and groundwater.

“Batteries, a cornerstone of the energy transition, highlight the need to decouple the finite nature of raw materials from growth. Today, substantial volumes of these materials already exist within the economy. By embracing a circular economy, businesses can recover valuable resources from first-wave technologies, such as electric vehicles (EVs), rather than discarding them,” the Ellen MacArthur Foundation notes in a statement.

The challenge of making circular batteries a reality

However, the Foundation adds that while many industry players recognise the need to make their production models more circular, “turning this commitment into reality is complex”.

Now, the Foundation will work with CATL to map circular economy opportunities for the entire battery value chain and build an ecosystem of cross-industrial partners to develop and implement a blueprint for battery circularity.

EV sales are now outpacing combustion engines in China, so the market is reaching a tipping point where circularity is becoming an existential issue.

Regulatory efforts to make batteries circular in Europe

In Europe, legislators have taken a regulatory approach to the problem: the New Batteries Regulation, which entered into force in 2023, sets recovery and recycled content targets for critical minerals and other elements used in batteries.

For example, 50% of the lithium found in waste batteries will have to be recovered by the end of 2027 (80% by 2031), while for copper, cobalt, lead and nickel, the recovery requirement is 90% by the end of 2027 and 95% by the end of 2031.

In new batteries, the law mandates that 16% of cobalt, 85% of lead, 6% of lithium and 6% of nickel come from recycled sources by 2031, with percentages increasing after that.