As the electric vehicle revolution gathers pace, concerns about their batteries are also on the agenda. Issues such as their environmental impact, raw material supply and recycling possibilities are causing controversy. But how recyclable are batteries in clean transportation?

Are electric car batteries really harmful to the environment?

As electric vehicles are becoming increasingly common on the roads, concerns about the environmental impact of their batteries are growing. How battery materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel are extracted and whether batteries are truly recyclable at the end of their life have become the subject of criticism.

The facts about batteries are more complex than the myths that are constantly claimed. For example, rare earth elements make up a small fraction of electric vehicle batteries. More important materials such as lithium and cobalt will be able to meet production needs until 2030.

On the recycling front, lithium-ion batteries can be recycled at rates of 50 percent or more with existing techniques. New hydrometallurgical methods hold greater promise for recovering 80-90 percent of the materials.

Mercedes-Benz, for example, has Europe’s first large-scale battery recycling plant that can recover more than 96 percent of the components from electric vehicle batteries. Of course, as the EV market is only just growing, only 5 percent of used batteries are currently recycled.

Accordingly, the EU aims to collect and process at least half of waste batteries by 2030 in order to reuse critical materials. This means that the challenges posed by battery materials can be addressed in a sustainable way.