Battery Recycling Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Growth and Change

Major players in the battery recycling market are Li-Cycle, Battery Solutions, LLC, Exide Technologies, Umicore, Aqua Metals, Inc, Gravita India Limited, Exide Industries Ltd, ECOBAT Logistics, East Penn Manufacturing Company, ENERSYS, Fortum Oyj, Accurec Recycling GmbH, Eco-Bat Technologies Ltd, Terrapure Environmental, Brunp Recycling, and Anhua Taisen Recycling Technology.

The global battery recycling market is expected to grow from $9.97 billion in 2020 to $11.04 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.76%. The growth is mainly due to increase in awareness about battery recycling. The market is expected to reach $16.90 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 11.23%.

The battery recycling market consists sales of recycled batteries by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) and related services. Battery recycling is the method of reusing and reprocessing batteries in order to reduce the number of batteries being disposed as waste.

The main types of batteries that are recycled include lead-acid battery, nickel-based battery, lithium-based battery and other battery types. Lead acid batteries are charged continuously from the power grid and are normally designed to provide power for brief periods of time to allow the facility to properly shut down equipment. Lead-acid batteries are extremely recyclable, achieving recycling rates of more than 90% in many countries. Nickel-based batteries have a positive electrode of nickel hydroxide and a negative electrode of cadmium and offer good performance in high ambient temperatures, good resistance to electrical use as they can be left in a discharged state for long periods without causing any permanent damage. Lithium-based batteries have a lithium metal oxide cathode and a carbon anode with an organic electrolyte and has the highest energy density of all rechargeable systems. The high capacity of active materials and a single cell voltage makes the battery suitable for a number of applications, ranging from high energy to high power. The processing states involved in battery recycling include extraction of material, reuse, repackaging and second life, and disposal, and this is used to recycle batteries from automotive, consumer electronics, industrial sectors.

North America was the largest region in the battery recycling market in 2020. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.

Major companies operating in the battery recycling market are entering into strategic collaborations to improve know how and enhance battery recycling efficiency. For instance, in 2021, UK based sustainable technologies company, Johnson Matthey partnered with Sweden based leading recycler of industrial waste and end of life products, Stena Recycling Group, to develop an efficient value chain for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries and cell manufacturing materials in Europe. In another instance, in 2019, MG Motor India partnered with Belgium based Umicore for the safe and environmentally sustainable recycling of end-of-life batteries used in the electric vehicles of the company.

For instance, in 2019, US based Call2Recycle, Inc. partnered with US based CellBlock Fire Containment Systems for improving its product portfolio and adding battery protection solutions along with easing battery collections for the company.

In January 2020, Fortum, a Finland based electric services company acquired CrisolteQ Oy for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition strengthens the position of Fortum in recycling high value metals in lithium-ion batteries in Europe. CrisolteQ Oy is a Finland based company that is a specialist in metal recycling. The company uses a low-CO2 hydrometallurgical recycling process for achieving 80% recycling rate for lithium-ion batteries.

The increasing adoption of electric vehicles is expected to drive the growth of the battery recycling market in the forecast period. Electric vehicles (EV) are automobiles which are completely or partially powered by electricity. Disposing an electric vehicle battery is expensive, particularly if the waste contains valuable materials. Recycling is an opportunity to minimize life cycle costs by recovering high-value materials and avoiding the expense of hazardous waste disposal. With the growth in EV sales, the number of lithium-ion batteries in the market increases. The limited life of these batteries requires an effective recycling medium in order to stabilize domestic source of materials for battery production, reduce the demand for raw materials and minimize geopolitical disruptions of the supply chain. After a period of 5-8 years the power generated by these batteries is not enough for the EV, but it can be used in other low-grade applications such as in households, energy backups, renewable energy storage and off-peak energy storage. Recycling EV batteries also helps recover the metals - cobalt, lithium, nickel, and others, which can then be used for manufacturing new batteries, saving resources and cost of production. According to International Energy Agency, global electric vehicle sales are projected to reach 125 million by 2030. Therefore, the increasing adoption of electric vehicles propels the growth of the battery recycling market.

The countries covered in the battery recycling market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA.