Battery recyclers will play an increasingly vital role in the future, as batteries power more and more parts of our lives.
The battery market is expected to grow significantly in coming years, driven by rapidly evolving technologies like electric vehicles.
For example, the lithium-ion battery market was worth more than US$37 billion in 2018, according to research by Markets and Markets.
Yet the production of lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles, is expected to grow to more than US$92 million by 2024.
The anticipated surge in new batteries will generate more battery waste over time, driving up the demand for responsible battery recycling.
One of the big drivers for battery recycling is a growing concern around the depletion of metals like cobalt and lithium that are needed to create batteries.
Battery recycling recovers resources from old batteries and reuses them in new products, reducing our dependence on already limited new materials.
The battery recycling sector is on track to boom, especially for the popular lithium-ion batteries.
The global lithium-ion battery market, which was worth over US$2 billion in 2018, is forecast to reach almost US$14 billion by 2026, according to Reports and Data.
Ecocycle Business Development Manager Daryl Moyle said Ecocycle recycled all types of batteries and continued to invest in new battery recycling technologies.
“Clearly there will be both increased need and greater demand for battery recycling, and these trends validate our decision to invest heavily in expanding our battery recycling capability,” he said.
Mr Moyle said certain battery types like alkaline and lead acid batteries were much easier to recycle than others such as lithium-ion varieties.
“The more complex the battery chemistry gets, the more difficult it is to extract resources from old batteries and the more technical the machinery has to be,” Mr Moyle said.
“Lithium-ion batteries have small amounts of these precious metals, so you need a significant volume to make it commercially viable, and you need the technology as well.
“At the moment, there is a lot of work being done to develop the technology to successfully do this in Australia and around the world.”
The team at Ecocycle is passionate about raising awareness around battery recycling and will continue to follow new developments in the battery recycling world.
If your workplace has more than a small bucket load of batteries to recycle, give Ecocycle a call on 1300 32 62 92 or fill in the form below.
