Source: Bloomberg
Author: Ragini Saxena
Proponents of deep-sea mining claim that the minerals of the deep are needed for the green transition, to supply the components of electric vehicle batteries, for example. But a new generation of batteries that either reuses these metals – or does not use them at all – is already entering the market. Innovation in metals recycling and battery design will reduce the demand for virgin minerals.
Indian battery recycling company Attero Recycling Pvt is planning to invest $1 billion over five years to build lithium-ion battery recycling plants in Europe, the US and Indonesia as demand for the metal surges amid the global shift to electric cars.
“There’s a tremendous amount of lithium-ion battery waste available for us to recycle,” Attero Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Nitin Gupta said in an interview. By 2030, 2.5 million tons of lithium-ion batteries will reach the end of their life, while currently there’s only the capacity for 0.7 million tons of battery waste to be recycled. “Lithium-ion batteries are becoming ubiquitous because they’re used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles,” he said.