According to a study, billions in investments are necessary for the comprehensive recycling of electric car batteries. However, experts assume that it will be a profitable business in a few years. According to a study by RWTH Aachen University and the management consultancy PwC, the development of battery recycling in the EU will be expensive at around nine billion euros, but it could be soon be worthwhile. After a long dry spell, the recycling of e-car batteries in Europe will “be a profitable and sustainable business even before 2035,” said PwC industry expert Jorn Neuhausen. Identify nickel and cobalt in battery cell production. Achim Kampker, Professor at RWTH Aachen University, added that the general increase in electrification and the increasing production of batteries for e-cars will drive the recycling market in Europe.

Initially still overcapacitiesIn the coming years, above all, waste from the growing “gigafactories” would be recycled, and there would still be overcapacities in the recycling plants. According to the study, however, the market will turn around from 2030, because then the first large number of electric cars will be phased out. From then on, the recycling market will be at full capacity. However, this requires investments of more than 2.2 billion euros for the annual processing of around 570,000 tons of battery material, it is said. “In order to be able to process all recyclable materials from 2035, market participants will have to spend another seven billion euros on their recycling capacities,” says Kampker. Because of the high investment costs, the current structure of the value chain will develop in the direction of large recycling centers , emphasized the experts. The combination of high material volume and low recycling costs creates an ideal market environment for the battery industry.

New rules in Europe “Battery recycling will be a profitable and sustainable business in Europe before 2035,” summarized Neuhausen. South Korea and China are pioneers in battery recycling with their 2013 guidelines to recycle around 90 percent of batteries. In June, the European Parliament passed new rules for the battery industry. With its revised battery regulation, the EU is thus setting minimum proportions of recovered raw materials such as cobalt, lead and lithium in new batteries. In addition, fixed collection quotas are also set for used batteries from “light means of transport” such as electric bicycles or scooters. According to the EU Commission, Europe currently imports around 800,000 tons of car batteries, 190,000 tons of industrial batteries and 160,000 tons of consumer batteries every year. Much of it is not recycled but disposed of – wasting resources and releasing hazardous substances.