An upstart battery recycling industry is making EVs greener

In recent years, many experts have questioned the environmental sustainability of mining materials to make EV batteries, a process that often emits significant pollution.

But new companies focused on recycling EV batteries are slowly proving they can mitigate many of the negative effects – or the industry’s version of “the grass is actually greener on the other side.”

Background: Current methods for obtaining and refining EV battery materials require a large amount of energy, and oftentimes have major environmental impacts like deforestation, toxic waste, and waterway pollution. As a result, the initial emissions from EVs are higher compared to gas-powered vehicles – but those emissions are won back as the car is driven over time.

• In the US, it takes an estimated 25,000 miles of driving for an EV to break even with a fossil-fuel vehicle emission-wise, assuming all the EV’s materials eventually end up in a landfill.

But that assumption isn’t matching up with reality. A market dedicated to recycling EV batteries has emerged in recent years. And, while the industry is still in its infancy, companies are currently able to recover 95+% of an EV battery’s key minerals – and also turn a profit.

• This recovery method shortens the average EV’s environmental breakeven time to less than 15,000 miles of driving, per a new Stanford analysis.

👀 Looking ahead… By 2030, when a projected 65+% of US electricity will come from zero-carbon sources, EVs could break even on emissions after a few thousand miles of driving.