A report titled EV Recycled Battery Materials Market by Stratview Research projects the electric vehicle recycled battery materials market to reach $300.8 million by 2025. According to Stratview Research, the significant increase in the demand for electric vehicles, the large volume of batteries reaching their end-of-life, the decreasing life expectancy of EV batteries, and scarcity of battery raw materials are likely to drive the EV recycled battery materials market. Along with these factors, government support and imposed regulations regarding EV adoption and battery recycling are expected to boost the recycling of EV batteries across all regions.
According to the study, another factor driving this market growth is the high price of some materials along with the scarcity of valuable metals, such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium, used in battery manufacturing. Despite the high price of nickel, its demand is still high due to the NMC 811 batteries being produced on a large scale. Though EV battery recycling requires extensive technological know-how, increasing demand coupled with the scarcity of these materials is compelling various countries to increasingly recycle EV batteries, the study said.
The study noted that that batteries will form 80% of the total lithium demand by the year 2030. Similarly, cobalt is another expensive material used in batteries manufacturing, with more than 60% of cobalt originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Furthermore, in 2017, the average annual price of cobalt doubled because of its limited availability and high demand.
Based on the battery type, the EV recycled battery materials market is segmented into lithium-ion batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries. The study expects Li-ion to remain the most dominant, as well as the faster-growing segment over the next five years in terms of both value and volume.
In terms of regions, Asia-Pacific is projected to remain the largest market during the forecast period, driven by the huge pile of used batteries in China. Currently, China owns the largest EV fleet size as 99% of E-buses run in China. Also, the country is the house of all the major EV battery recyclers, such as GEM Co. Ltd and Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology Co. Ltd.
Europe is likely to exhibit he highest growth rate over the next five years, owing to the stringent regulations imposed by the European Union. The European Regulation has made it mandatory for battery manufacturers to finance the cost of collecting, treating, and recycling of all the collected batteries. In Europe, Germany and the UK are the growth engines of the EV recycled battery materials market.