For example , warranties currently provided by most manufacturers of utility-scale batteries generally provide that , after a 10-year period , the battery will hold between 60 % and 80 % of its original capacity subject , of course , to various usage assumptions .
Recycle or repurpose Battery recycling processes differ depending on the type of battery used . In the case of lithiumion batteries , recycling usually entails either acid leaching and reduction ( hydrometallurgical ) or high temperature smelting ( pyrometallurgical ) of the batteries to recover the valuable materials . The valuable materials recovered from lithiumion batteries are predominantly cobalt , nickel ( both generally the most expensive parts of the battery ), copper , lithium , manganese and rare earth metals . These materials can then be recycled to produce new batteries .
The repurposing process is more varied and will depend on the battery . For example , an EV battery may be reconfigured into a different energy storage function where it would not be required to discharge for prolonged periods , such as in combination with utility-scale batteries or for domestic purposes . Equally , end-of-life utilityscale batteries can be repurposed as co-located or back-up storage for solar projects or to store energy at EV charging stations . A number of projects implementing repurposed batteries have already been successfully , and commercially implemented .
Repurposing is not mutually exclusive with recycling . A battery can be repurposed once or even twice before being recycled , and doing both will increase the economic value of the battery and reduce its carbon footprint . However , there is still a way to go on both fronts . Batteries are not necessarily designed with repurposing in mind and may be obsolete in 10 years ’ time . Equally , more large-scale and advanced battery recycling facilities are required to maximise the extraction of raw materials and cope with the exponential growth in battery use .
Given the above drivers , a sophisticated regulatory regime is required to provide a framework to encourage and support the treatment of used batteries .
Current UK regime The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 ( SI 2009 / 890 ) ( Waste Batteries Regulations ) govern producer responsibility for batteries in the UK . The Waste Batteries Regulations implemented aspects of the EU Batteries Directive 2006 ( 2006 / 66 / EC ), the purpose of which is to minimise the negative impact of batteries on the environment and to make producers responsible for their collection , recycling and disposal . These regulations are part of the EU law retained in the UK following Brexit .
The Waste Batteries Regulations differentiate between industrial batteries ( ie , utility-scale and EV batteries ), automotive batteries ( ie , yesterday ’ s standard old car batteries ), and portable batteries
( ie , any other sealed batteries that can be handcarried by a person without difficulty , such as AA and smartphone batteries ).
The Office for Product Safety and Standards enforces the Waste Batteries Regulations against ‘ producers ’ of automotive and industrial batteries . A producer includes any person in the UK that places batteries on the market for the first time in the UK in a professional capacity irrespective of the placing technique used and including through sales by distance communication .
Under the Waste Batteries Regulations , industrial battery producers are required to : register as a producer with the Secretary of State ; and provide a scheme under which they accept to retrieve waste industrial batteries provided to end-users . This must be free of charge to the end-user and within a reasonable time following request by the end-user .
The producer must publish details of how an end-user can use the scheme ; ensure waste batteries retrieved are responsibly treated and recycled by an approved battery treatment operator ( meeting minimum recycling efficiencies ) or delivered to an approved battery exporter for foreign treatment and recycling ; and maintain written records of the amount in tonnes of batteries that , in each year , it places on the market for the first time in the UK and has been responsible for taking back and recycling .
Target annual collection rates are also required , currently set at 45 % of the average annual amount of portable batteries placed on the UK market , and with some variations depending on battery type at least 50 % of the materials in a battery have to be recycled . UK success rates in achieving these targets have been inconsistent .
The Waste Batteries Regulations focus more on waste-management than creating a circulate economy for the re-use and recycling of batteries . The regulations are supplemented by various vehicle-specific “ End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations ” for the re-use , recovery and recycling of scrap vehicles . While these include provisions for depolluting toxic materials and car batteries , the dismantling and recycling targets are by weight – so , similar to the Waste Batteries Regulations themselves , are more of a regime for scrap metal management and disposal .
In 2018 , the UK Government published “ Our Waste , Our Resources , A Strategy for England ( Resources and Waste Strategy )”. This report indicated that the government will consult on reviewing the end-of-life vehicle regime in England as part of its extended producer responsibility framework in mid-2021 . Whether this will be progressed ( and , if so , if it will address batteries in detail ) is yet to be seen .
So , while a UK battery recycling regime exists ( as well as other less material recycling terms we have not detailed above ), it is thin on detail and does not adequately address considerations of a circular economy and the exponential growth in industrial battery use . In particular , there is no distinction made between recycling and
70 Project Finance International Febuary 23 2022