Mapping the Battery Recycling Supply Chain: A Global Perspective

As the world shifts toward electric vehicles and renewable energy, lithium-ion batteries have become essential to enabling a low-carbon future. But with this rapid growth comes an equally urgent need to address what happens to batteries once they reach the end of their life. Recycling is no longer an afterthought, it’s a core part of the battery value chain.

According to Rho Motion’s May 2025 forecast, China is projected to hold 78% of global pre-treatment and 89% of black mass refining capacity, reflecting its vast domestic EV market and heavy investment in infrastructure.

While this positions China as a global leader, it also underscores the urgent need for the UK and EU to build domestic capabilities. Developing integrated recycling infrastructure closer to where batteries are used will be essential for economic resilience, supply chain security, and long-term sustainability.

Understanding the Recycling Process

Battery recycling involves several key stages:

1. Collection: End-of-life batteries from consumer devices, electric vehicles, or manufacturing scrap are gathered for processing.
2. Pre-treatment: The batteries are dismantled and mechanically shredded to produce black mass, a powder that contains lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese .
3. Refining: The black mass is chemically processed to extract high-purity materials that can be reused to manufacture new batteries.

In regions like Europe and North America, much of the infrastructure built to date has focused on the first two stages. Of the 38 operational battery recycling facilities in Europe, 28 focus solely on pre-treatment.

Building Domestic Refining Capacity in the UK

Recyclus Group identified early on that true circularity requires more than just shredding. Since July 2023, our industrial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Wolverhampton has been operational, processing Li-ion batteries and, through its partners has been refining black mass ready for industrial use.

Why This Matters

As demand for EVs, energy storage, and consumer electronics grows, so too does the need for critical raw materials, which face constrained global availability and rising geopolitical significance. Relying on primary extraction from mining alone is neither sustainable nor secure.

Battery recycling offers a proven solution. It reduces pressure on raw mineral extraction, cuts carbon emissions, and ensures greater resilience in the supply of critical materials. To fully realise these benefits, the UK and EU must create the conditions for value-added processing to take place locally, ensuring the economic and strategic value of black mass is retained within the region.

A Growing Circular Opportunity

Beyond environmental benefits, there’s a clear economic opportunity in developing a full battery recycling ecosystem. Europe is rapidly scaling its gigafactory capacity, with demand for cathode materials expected to rise sharply by the end of the decade. Recycling will be key to closing the loop.

Through our growing network of partnerships, long-term contracts, and innovative technologies, Recyclus is building the infrastructure to meet this demand at scale.