Electric vehicle battery recycling market

The global electric vehicle battery recycling market size is estimated at US$ 2.27 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.4% from 2023 to 2030. The growth of this market is primarily driven by factors such as rising demand for environmentally friendly vehicles, increased focus on research and development of advanced fuel-efficient technologies, rising oil prices, and increasing consumer preference toward alternative energy sources. However, several restraints such as high startup costs of recycling facilities, re-use of EV batteries, and lack of efficient techniques for battery recycling may hinder the market's growth.

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market: Regional Insights

North America among regions is expected to exhibit robust growth in the global electric vehicle battery recycling market over the forecast period. The region is witnessing increasing investment on advanced technology for enhanced transportation and rise in environmental concerns about the emission of harmful air pollutants. Moreover, the demand for automation and advanced technology in the automobile industry of the region are among the other factors likely to boost the market growth across the region.

Furthermore, Asia Pacific is also anticipated to gain promising growth in the global electric vehicle battery recycling market during the forecast period. This is owing to high rate of adoption of smart mobility services, rise in fuel prices, government regulations, and increasing adoption of non-fossil fuel-based vehicles in the emerging countries such as China, India, and Indonesia of the region. Moreover, growing vehicle standards and rise in number of vehicles in the region are also the factors driving growth of the market in the region.

Figure 1. Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market Share (%), By Region, 2022

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market Drivers:

Limited metal resources to drive the market growth

In July 2017, the government of Britain and France announced partnership pledging to ban the sales of gasoline and diesel cars by 2040, for reducing emission of toxic gases from vehicles. As a result, the demand for electric vehicles increased significantly along with the demand for battery components as well as raw materials such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, aluminum among others. However, the supply of these raw materials utilized in production of these battery packs is hindered as these resources are limited and of high cost. Thus, demand for recycling of batteries used in EVs is increasing, which is expected to boost growth of the global electric vehicle battery recycling market over the forecast period.

Rise in demand for zero emission vehicles to boost the market growth

The concerns around the adverse effect of climate change and increasing pollution levels are increasingly significantly leading to major demand for electric vehicles across several major cities around the world. As the cost of diesel and petrol continues to rise, the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles is increasing substantially. Moreover, as the fossil fuel reserves are depleting, and companies are trying to obtain maximum profit from the oil reserves, the demand for zero emission vehicles is increasing all over the world. These factors are thus, driving growth of the global electric vehicle battery recycling market.

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market Opportunities:

High recycling gap is one of the major factors expected to create business opportunities in the global electric vehicle battery recycling market during the forecast period. Core components of dead electric vehicle batteries such as nickel, lithium, and cobalt among others are limited, and extracting these ingredients can cause water pollution as well as depletion of resources. Along with this, if the battery is damaged, it poses the risk of emitting harmful gases. Due to all these environmental concerns, recycling these batteries is the best option. However, there is a large gap in recycling of these batteries, due to which the market is likely to witness multiple lucrative opportunities in the future.

Increasing number of subsidies encouraging battery recycling is also anticipated to offer growth opportunities in the global electric vehicle battery recycling market during the forecast period. 50% of the lead supply comes from recycling batteries, and with growing sale statistics of electric vehicles, the demand for EV batteries will continue to increase. As a result, the need for SMEs to recycle these batteries to obtain core raw materials will also increase in the coming years. Governments around the world are offering various subsidies on EVs to grow their adoption. Along with this, governments of countries around the world are also offering subsidies to purchase the machinery needed for the setup. This in turn will create ample opportunities in the global market.

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market Trends:

Increasing demand for passenger EVs is a major trend in the market

With increasing demand as well as investment in the manufacturing of electric passenger cars, the market is likely to gain substantial growth in the coming future. Many initiatives sponsored by government including grants, tax breaks, and other non-financial advantages such as carpool lanes are increasingly being adopted all over the world. As a result, the demand for electric passenger cars is increasing. This trend is likely to boost growth of the global electric vehicle battery recycling market during the forecast period.

Rise in number of recycling plants is another trend in the market

Several players in the market are involved in development of battery recycling plants. For instance, in January 2021, Li-Cycle, a battery recycling company began constructing the recycling plant for Li-on batteries in New York, the U.S. This plant will possess capacity of 25 metric kilo metric tons of battery waste, which will recover 95% or even more of core materials of the battery through zero-emissions, zero-wastewater process. Such initiatives by market players are likely to fuel growth of the global electric vehicle battery recycling market in the coming future.

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market Restraints:

Re-usable electric vehicle batteries to hinder the market pace

Electric vehicles need high-performance batteries for operating efficiently. Thus, batteries that can be recharged and discharged at a particular point are used in these vehicles. When these batteries reach their end point, they are removed from the vehicle instead recycling. The battery cells can be re manufactured and the cells can be used in storage applications. Thus, the need for recycling batteries of such EVs is hindered, which is further expected to hamper growth of the market over the forecast period.

High cost of building recycling plants to limit the market growth

The most common type of battery used in EVs is lithium ion battery. The machinery needed for recycling these batteries are of high cost, ranging from US$ 20,000 to US$ 200,000. The cost of these machineries could fluctuate over the time, as the technology of production and recycling methods of batteries continue to advance. This is further expected to hamper growth of the global electric vehicle battery recycling market over the forecast period.    

Figure 2. Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market Share (%), By Application, 2022  

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market Segmentation:

The global electric vehicle battery recycling market report is segmented into Application.

Based on Application, the market is segmented into Electric Cars, Electric Buses, Energy storage systems, and Others. Out of which, Electric Cars is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the growing adoption of electric vehicles all over the world. With increasing awareness about harmful impacts of conventional cars on environment, the demand for electric cars is increasing, due to which need for batteries is growing tremendously. As a result, the electric vehicle battery recycling market is likely to gain substantial growth in the near future.

Electric Buses segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the rise in adoption of alternative fuel technologies in commercial vehicles such as buses. E-buses are adopted for their zero-emission, quiet operation, and better acceleration. With increasing advancements in the range of the bus and lower cost of procurement are driving growth of this segment in the market.

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market: Key Developments

In June 2021, GEM Co., announced its plans of investing nearly CNY 310 million in a project for recovering cobalt and nickel material from a current battery recycling plant in the Hubei province of China.

In May 2021, Primobius formed a deal with Stelco, for creating a facility in North America, for the sole purpose of extracting and recycling battery metals from electric vehicles.

In July 2022, Samsung S.D.I. performed ground breaking ceremony in Seremban, Malaysia, for their second facility for battery production. The new plant will make cylindrical PRiMX 21700 batteries in 2024.

Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market: Key Companies Insights

The global electric vehicle battery recycling market is highly competitive. This is attributed to continuous launch of new technologies due to ongoing R &D and efforts by value chain participants. Moreover, key players are adopting various business growth strategies in order to expand their presence on regional as well as global basis. Some of the key players in the global electric vehicle battery recycling market are Accurec Recycling GmbH, American Manganese Inc. Battery Solutions, Li-Cycle Corp., G & P Batteries, Recupyl, Retriev Technologies, Sitrasa, Floridienne (SNAM S.A.S.), and Umicore

*Definition: EVs produce a lot of waste batteries during their lifespan, which needs to be recycled in order to maintain their efficiency. The EV battery recycling process involves dismantling, cleaning, sorting, and reusing the battery components to extract rare metals and other raw materials.

Detailed Segmentation:

• Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market, By Application
  • Electric Cars
  • Electric Buses
  • Energy storage systems
  • Others
• Global Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Market, By Region
  • North America
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
  • Latin America
  • Middle East and Africa