Recycling of electric car batteries: Where to put them after use?

According to the barometer of AVERE (the national association for the development of electric mobility), no fewer than 882,531 electric vehicles have been on the roads in France since August 2023.From 2022 to 2023, there was an increase of +52.4% in the number of 100% electric vehicles (passenger cars and commercial vehicles) registered.

This broad acceptance of electric vehicles represents a major challenge to achieve sustainable mobility!

The recycling and sensible reuse of electric car batteries are crucial to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

How is the recycling of electric car batteries handled when they have had their useful day? Let's go through the most important things about electric car battery recycling together!

Overview of the ecological challenge

Lithium batteries in electric vehicles represent an ecological paradox.

Although they are a clean solution to reduce pollutant emissions, their production and end-of-life pose an environmental challenge.

The materials needed to make them often require extraction processes that put a strain on our planet.

This leads to environmental risks (air, water and soil contamination), health risks, but also social challenges in certain regions.

Without recycling, electric car batteries could also contribute to environmental pollution. This is because the production of electric car batteries is also associated with potentially environmentally harmful processes.

To counteract these problems, the industry is orienting itself towards more ethical and sustainable mining and production methods.

In particular, recycling is preferred to reduce dependence on extraction.

Life of an electric car battery

The durability of electric car batteries has improved significantly thanks to recent technological advances that have extended their lifespan.

The lithium-ion batteries commonly used in electric vehicles are predominantly recyclable and low-maintenance.

The battery life of an electric vehicle depends on the intensity and the type of use.

In general, it is therefore assumed that that a battery needs to be replacedwhen it has only 70% of its energy conservation capacity.

For the battery of a "typical" electric vehicle, this operating life is between 8 and 10 years on average.

Lifespan is also measured in charge/discharge cycles, with the average quoted by manufacturers being around 1250 cycles.

The battery may no longer be efficient enough to power a vehicle, but it is not completely unusable...

For example, it is very rare for the battery of an electric car to reach the end of its service life.

Contrary to popular belief, the electric motor and other mechanical components do not wear out as quickly as combustion engines.

The health of the battery is therefore crucial for the range and overall efficiency of the vehicle!

The Materials Used to Make Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries dominate the electric vehicle market.

In addition to lithium, they consist of rare metals such as cobalt and nickel or manganese.

These materials are expensive and their extraction requires a lot of energy. This can have a significant impact on the environment, which is why it is particularly important to recycle them.

Reuse before recycling

Batteries that have reached 70% of their capacity can be reused before recycling!

They retain their value and are reclaimed for use in a second life. They can be used, for example, in the following areas:

To store energy for a house, a shop, a factory and even the public grid!
In helping to integrate intermittent renewable energies, i.e. for "stationary storage".

This allows electricity to be stored on a large scale.

This system helps to overcome the weaknesses of electricity generation from renewable energy sources.

Sources such as wind and solar energy are referred to as "intermittent" because their production fluctuates depending on external conditions. It cannot therefore be guaranteed continuously.

For example, the use of stationary energy storage systems plays a key role by supplying electricity at times when not enough electricity is being produced. This contributes to a more efficient use of resources!

This aspect is of paramount importance for the future, especially in view of the 2030 target of 40% of our electricity coming from renewable sources.

Is recycling possible? What does the law say about this?

Yes, the recycling of electric car batteries is possible and is encouraged in particular by European legislation!

This can minimize the environmental impact of battery production.

The European Union has introduced its own guidelines that require manufacturers to collect and recycle used batteries. These regulations aim to promote a circular economy and minimise the impact on the environment.

It is undisputed that electric vehicles are good for the environment during their use.

However, they must also have an equally responsible end of life.

The law now prescribes several elements:

A digital passport with a CO2 footprint label

To improve the traceability and environmental impact of electric vehicle batteries, including those of cars, bicycles and scooters, they will be equipped with a pass in the form of a QR code.

This passport will contain detailed information about the capacity, power and composition of the electric vehicle's battery.

It will also introduce a label indicating the CO2 footprint of each battery, calculated from mining to recycling. From 2027, batteries will have to comply with a certain CO2 footprint in order to be approved for sale in Europe.

Greener batteries from 2027

Europe sets minimum levels for materials recovered from battery waste for reuse:

50% for lithium by 2027 and 80% by 2031;
90% by 2027 and 95% by 2031 for cobalt, copper, lead and nickel.

New batteries must then have a minimum proportion of recycled materials. For example, this is to be 6% for lithium 8 years after the law comes into force and 12% 13 years after the law comes into force.

Optimized recycling

Europe also wants to increase the collection of used batteries. While this is already largely the case for cars, the collection rate for bicycles and scooters will be increased (51% by 2028 and 61% by 2031).

Good to know: Manufacturers of electric cars are obliged to recycle the batteries of their vehicles.

This obligation was introduced in 2011 by an EU directive and is regulated in Article r543-130 of the Environmental Code.

These are organizations that are contracted by local governments or voluntarily set up by professionals to take care of the end of the life cycle of batteries. Some battery manufacturers have even taken the initiative and built their own network.

In any case, they must:

collect the batteries at their own expense, recycle them,
work with a recycling company whose process guarantees a recycling rate of 50%,
register as a manufacturer (this status is granted when the company first places the battery on the market).

By the way, did you know that the same approved companies recycle more smartphone batteries than lithium batteries? 👀

The future of batteries at the end of their life cycle

The disposal of batteries at the end of their life cycle is crucial.

Those that cannot be reused are recycled in a specialized center.

Here are the most important steps of the recycling process:

The battery is disassembled (removal of the plastic parts to specialized collection points),
The battery cells are opened according to 2 techniques:
simple crushing (hydrometallurgy),
or carbonization in furnaces (pyrometallurgy).
The chimneys are equipped with filters and sensors to measure the exhaust gases (they remain well below the limits set by the government).
After various processes, the resulting powder contains many metals: lithium, copper, tin, cobalt, aluminum...

They are then made into pure ingots to make all kinds of new things.

In this way, between 70% and 90% of the total weight of the battery is recovered in the recycling cycle, depending on the type of battery.

The remaining residues, which consist mainly of refractory plastics, are filled into drums and stored in special landfills.

With the advancement of recycling technologies and advances in eco-design, it is expected that an almost complete recovery of materials approaching 100% will soon be achieved.

Key Points to Remember

The lithium batteries of electric vehicles play a key role in reducing pollutant emissions. They need effective treatment at the end of their life to minimize their effects.
Their service life is between 8 and 10 years.
Since they are made of precious metals that are difficult to extract, they must be carefully recycled.
The end of their lives is not synonymous with uselessness; they can be reprocessed or recycled (reuse provides a sustainable alternative before final recycling).
Manufacturers are required by EU regulations to recycle the batteries of their vehicles.
French and European legislation actively promotes the recycling of lithium batteries and imposes recovery targets (principles of the circular economy).
The recycling process aims to recover between 70% and 90% of the total weight of the battery, with the aim of achieving full material recovery in the future.

We hope that you now have ♻️ more clarity about recycling lithium batteries from electric cars.