How Europe can source critical raw materials at home

From Li-ion batteries and electric vehicles to drones and solar panels, nearly all clean technologies depend on critical raw materials, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. As the demand for these technologies surges, so too does the demand for their components, placing immense pressure on supply chains.

This is an especially serious issue in Europe, which depends heavily on outside countries for its supply of these materials. South Africa furnishes 41% of the EU’s demand for primary manganese, while Chile provides 79% of its processed lithium. When it comes to batteries, China controls about 70% of the whole battery value chain, from processing raw materials through to assembly. As a result, the EU is highly vulnerable to shortages.

To address these challenges, researchers at the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) are exploring the potentialities of using alternative sustainable solutions, by establishing scientifically sound and harmonized approaches to waste battery collection and recovery in the context of the 2023 Batteries Regulation.

The challenge of extracting critical raw materials

The extraction of critical raw materials comes with high costs and risks, both in economic and environmental terms. To start, exploration activities to find deposits of these minerals may take years, with no guarantee of success. Extracting the materials themselves is also highly resource-intensive—extracting 1kg of cobalt, an essential component of several battery chemistries, consumes about 250kg of water, and produces at least 100kg of waste material.

Recycling in the EU could provide a solution to both stabilize supply and minimize ecological damage.

Many advanced economies are looking at metal recycling and the enhancement of circular economy as added value for their strategic plans. Countries like Japan and China, as well as many US states, have already passed legislation related to electronics and battery recycling, with ambitious recovery targets, especially for electric vehicle batteries, following the example Europe has been setting for several years already.

Indeed, it is Europe that has been leading legislative efforts, with policy measures covering a battery’s entire lifespan, from extraction processes through to recycling.

Yet when we look at the industrial capacity of battery recycling, China is still at the forefront. According to the Recycling of Critical Minerals report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s top 20 companies by capacity for pre-treatment and material recovery—two essential stages of battery recycling—are all Chinese companies. Of these businesses, the top three hold around 15% of the global pre-treatment market, and almost 20% of the material recovery market. This is not surprising when considering that China largely dominates the batteries gigafactory race, and has the largest supply of EV batteries.

Looking ahead, China is forecast to retain over 75% of global material recovery capacity in 2030, with the US at 10% and the EU at 5% share of the market.

The untapped potential of urban mining

This is where urban mining comes into play, and it does not only concern waste batteries. Every year, the world produces a vast amount of e-waste—electric and electronic equipment, as well as waste batteries.

In 2022, the world produced 62 million tons of e-waste, enough to fill 1.55 million 40-ton trucks that, if placed bumper-to-bumper, could form a line encircling the equator. Instead of going to landfill, this e-waste can be harnessed as urban mines of secondary raw materials.

Extracting materials from urban mines has a lower environmental impact than primary extraction, largely because critical raw materials are usually more concentrated in waste batteries than in primary ores. Returning to the example of cobalt, extracting this metal from Li-ion batteries requires about 100kg of water—2.5 times less than extracting the same amount from the ground.

Recovering what we already have will also keep valuable raw materials in Europe. For example, the JRC estimated that the potential supply of secondary cobalt—an essential component not just of batteries and electronics, but also space launchers and satellites—could amount to 42% of EU demand by 2050.

However, a remarkable share of the EU’s battery waste is recycled outside the EU. This happens for a number of reasons. In addition to reduced labor costs, it is much more cost-effective to recycle waste batteries in the same facilities where the primary materials are produced.

Bringing recycling ‘in-house’

By taking advantage of “in-house” urban mines for the supply of critical raw materials, the EU can significantly reduce dependencies on outside countries and remain competitive on a global scale. In addition, collecting more waste batteries and keeping them in the EU will boost the recycling industry and innovations, and help meet the ambitious recycling targets established in the EU Batteries Regulation.

These targets are demanding. Specifically, 80% of lithium and 98% of cobalt should be recovered from waste batteries by the end of 2031. In light of these challenges, the JRC has proposed a scientific approach to harmonize the calculation rules for monitoring the recycling of waste batteries across the EU in a way that will both support innovation and ensure cost-effectiveness.

This methodological framework is key for the EU to make the most of its urban mines. It will help the EU build a sustainable, resilient and competitive industry, and lead to the more efficient collection and treatment of EU waste within its own borders.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.