Europe currently sends a significant portion of its battery waste beyond its borders for refining, despite growing collection and initial processing efforts. End-of-life batteries are shredded into black mass—a mixture rich in lithium, cobalt, nickel and other valuable materials—but much of this intermediate product is shipped to Southeast Asia for further treatment. A similar pattern exists with scrap aluminum. As a result, Europe is losing access to raw materials that could otherwise support domestic battery and clean-technology supply chains.
This dynamic limits the continent’s ability to reduce strategic dependencies on foreign suppliers, especially at a time when global energy markets remain volatile. Recycling offers a way to secure critical minerals while lowering reliance on imports. Analysis indicates that by 2035, scaled recycling capacity in Europe could avoid importing more than 80,000 metric tons of lithium—enough for roughly 2.5 million electric vehicles—and by 2040 could reduce aluminum imports by around three million metric tons.
However, over half of Europe’s existing battery recycling capacity is currently under threat. Recyclers cite two primary challenges: insufficient feedstock—since much of the black mass leaves Europe—and a lack of integrated midstream industries to process cathode active materials and their precursors. These midstream facilities are vital as they provide consistent demand for recycled outputs. Compounding these hurdles are financial pressures and higher energy costs facing European recycling operations.
Experts urge policymakers to adopt a series of measures under the upcoming Circular Economy Act. First, waste shipments should be restricted so that end-of-life batteries, black mass, and scrap metals remain within Europe unless they are destined for approved domestic facilities or demonstrably benefit the European battery value chain. Second, the European Commission should streamline cross-border waste transport by amending the Waste Shipment Regulation to apply a simplified green-list procedure for waste streams containing critical materials bound for certified EU processors. Finally, recycled content targets in the EU Batteries Regulation should be adjusted to recognize only materials processed in Europe, sending a clear market signal to investors and the recycling industry.
By keeping valuable waste in Europe and strengthening the entire battery value chain at home, the continent can improve resource security, boost circular-economy jobs and support its transition to electrified transport.
Source: Transport & Environment
