United States recycled content standards for lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion battery recycling can decrease life cycle environmental
impacts of electric vehicles (EVs) and assist in securing domestic supply
chains. However, the US, the third largest market for EVs, has no policies
for recycling of batteries at their end-of-life. The European Union has
proposed recycled content standards (RCSs) to help drive a circular
battery ecosystem. This analysis calculates feasible RCSs for the US based
on future sale projections, techno-economic assessment, life cycle
assessment, and material flow analysis. Using a 95% confidence interval,
results show that 11–12% of cobalt, 7–8% of lithium, and 10–12% of nickel
demand in 2030 and 15–18%, 9–11%, and 15–17%, respectively, in 2035, could
be met by retired supply assuming closed-loop recycling. While domestic
recycling can be profitable at scale and reduce environmental impacts, it
is more expensive than exporting to China for recycling. Consequently,
policy is likely needed to ensure critical materials are recycled
domestically.