A whitepaper titled “Leading The Charge – Turning risk into reward with a circular economy for EV batteries and critical minerals” was released during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026. Produced by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation with input from more than 30 organizations across the electric vehicle battery ecosystem—including CATL, DHL, Volvo, and JLR, as well as research institutions and NGOs—the report offers the first actionable, industry-grounded roadmap for a circular EV battery value chain.
As the founding strategic partner of the Foundation’s Critical Minerals Mission, CATL contributed to translating circular economy principles into practical measures based on real operating experience. The roadmap supports CATL’s Global Energy Circularity Commitment, which aims to decouple battery growth from reliance on virgin raw materials.
The whitepaper highlights environmental and economic benefits of keeping batteries and critical minerals in high-value use across multiple lifecycles. Potential advantages include reduced demand for newly mined materials, lower greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced integration of renewable energy, improved material efficiency, reduced waste and operational costs, and the creation of new revenue streams. It also underlines how a circular system can bolster supply-chain resilience and distribute economic benefits more evenly across regions.
- Reduced demand for newly mined materials
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions
- Enhanced integration of renewable energy
- Improved material efficiency
- Reduced waste and operational costs
- Creation of new revenue streams
- Bolstered supply-chain resilience
- More evenly distributed economic benefits across regions
Five interdependent actions are identified to achieve a circular EV battery system:
- Design batteries for circularity rather than disposal
- Rethink battery servicing within optimized energy–mobility systems
- Scale business models that treat batteries as long-term assets
- Build and co-invest in regional circular infrastructure
- Establish a circular operating system through data sharing, standards, and supportive policies
CATL is already implementing these actions by managing batteries as centrally controlled assets, operating over 1,000 passenger-vehicle and 300 commercial-vehicle swap stations, and collaborating with more than 100 partners. Its recycling facilities achieve recovery rates of 99.6% for nickel, cobalt, and manganese, and 96.5% for lithium, with capacity expanding toward 270,000 tonnes per year. CATL is also developing sodium-ion battery chemistries that can reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 60%.
The next phase of collaboration will focus on stress-testing these circular approaches in real-world environments to refine how design, use, life extension, collection, and recycling loops function together at scale.
Source: CATL
