As the shortage of minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries increases, there will no doubt be a need to focus on recycling to electrify transportation and meet demand.
“Back in 2019, we believed that recycling was inevitable and essential, and now more than ever we say it,” said Sarah Houde, President and CEO of Propulsion Québec, the electric and smart transportation cluster.
Lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel… If electrification of transport is necessary for the current energy transition, it is no less greedy for minerals from the underground.
Demand for critical minerals is expected to increase 10-fold by 2030, and shortages are “imminent,” according to a report released earlier this year by transportation investment firm UP.Partners.
The increasing demand is so great that 50 new lithium and 60 nickel mines will be needed by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.
However, these goals are not achievable as it takes more than 15 years for a new mining project to get off the ground.
Infinitely recyclable
No longer relying on oil for our transportation therefore requires two solutions: reduce our needs and reuse as much as possible the minerals already in the loop.
When enough batteries are made using mined minerals, they can be almost completely (95%) and indefinitely recycled using technology developed by Quebec-based Recyclage Lithium.
Thanks to recycling, the need for dismantling is therefore gradually reduced, which is good news for the electrification of transport, but also for the environment.
The technology developed by Recyclage Lithion would emit 75% less greenhouse gases (GHG) than mining and use 90% less water.
Proof that recycling must play a critical role: Americans eye Quebec’s only player in battery recycling.
Last fall, after General Motors invested in it, it was the turn of Antony Blinken, Number Three in the US Administration, to visit Lithion Recycling.
Be prepared for future requirements
The company’s first plant is scheduled to open in Quebec by the end of the year.
Recycling capacity will reach 7,500 tons per year, or a third of half of Quebec’s needs in 2030, according to a study by Propulsion Québec.
It will cover the first phase of the recycling process: mechanical separation.
To complete battery recycling, the second phase of the process, hydrometallurgy, must also be tackled and another plant built for it.
For the big head of Propulsion Québec, Sarah Houde, we have to increase our capacities.
Photo by LinkedIn, Sarah Houde
Sarah Houde, CEO of Propulsion Quebec
“We need to prepare this industry for the future and not wait until we are overwhelmed by the amount of batteries to be recycled,” adds Yves Noël, Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer of Recyclage Lithion.
Also reduce demand
Although recycling will prove essential, the imminent shortage of critical minerals is a reminder that natural resources are not unlimited.
It is therefore important to minimize demand and rely on other means of transport than the solo car.
“We need to recycle, but that doesn’t always mean we increase our fleet,” concludes Ms. Houde.
The state of Quebec is slow to respond
Regulations making EV battery recycling mandatory are long overdue by the industry.
“It’s really important that batteries don’t end up in the field or in the scrapyard, that would be dramatic from an environmental perspective and really unfortunate from an economic perspective,” says Sarah Houde, CEO of Propulsion Quebec.
According to the Association of Electric Vehicles of Quebec (AVEQ), as of December 31, 2022, more than 170,000 electric vehicles were on the province’s roads.
And the growth of the electric vehicle fleet will continue to accelerate, because within just three years 20% of new vehicles sold will have to be electric. By 2035 it will be everything.
In addition, almost a third of the minerals used in battery production facilities are rejected and can therefore be recycled. The first cathode factories should see the light of day by 2025.
Suffice it to say that the need for recycling is imminent.
No commitment from Quebec
At Propulsion Québec, we want recycling to become mandatory and we are “closely” following the ongoing work on this topic.
So, has the government committed to making battery recycling mandatory?
The Journal put the question to the press secretary of Benoit Charette, the minister responsible for this file.
She emailed that the Environment Department is currently in talks with industry, which “proposes a voluntary program to recover batteries from electric vehicles.”
He adds that the principle of producer responsibility will serve as the basis for the scheme, but without committing to 100% recycling of used batteries.