Canada had big EV battery recycling plans, but without regulations it's the 'Wild West,' expert warns

A fewer years ago, Li-Cycle was 1 of the biggest players successful electrical vehicle battery recycling successful North America, providing a roadmap to a circular, sustainable system for electrical vehicles. 

But conscionable past month, the Toronto-based institution filed for bankruptcy extortion successful the U.S. and Canada aft years of struggling to get a installation disconnected the crushed successful Rochester, N.Y. The institution said the planned hub would person been capable to extract lithium and different captious minerals from recycled worldly to really physique caller EV batteries — a important measurement that North American recyclers haven't achieved connected a commercialized standard yet. 

The bankruptcy is simply a sign, immoderate experts say, that the marketplace can't prolong the manufacture without due authorities regularisation providing incentives and structure. 

EV batteries deterioration retired implicit time, and with much than 600,000 EVs connected the roadworthy successful Canada, keeping those batteries retired of landfills — and recovering the invaluable captious minerals they incorporate — volition beryllium indispensable successful the adjacent future. But regularisation astir EV artillery recycling is virtually nonexistent successful Canada, and manufacture and argumentation experts accidental without it, we won't beryllium acceptable erstwhile the waves of EV batteries deed the market.

"There truly is nary regulatory oregon argumentation authorities astir this successful North America," said Mark Winfield, a prof of biology and urban alteration astatine Toronto's York University and co-chair of the school's Sustainable Energy Initiative.

"It's a Wild West," helium told CBC News. "The drivers that would mostly … provide the benignant of stableness and the instauration for that benignant of concern conscionable aren't there."

Recent reports from the International Energy Association (IEA) and the World Economic Forum besides stress the value of establishing authorities regularisation to way and guarantee request for recycled materials successful EV batteries. 

Canada's national authorities has laid retired a program to execute 100 per cent zero-emission income for rider cars by 2035, but there's nary nationalist model for EV batteries erstwhile they're excessively aged to powerfulness a car. There are besides nary national regulations astir EV artillery recycling, and B.C., the lone state that had announced impending regulation, present says it's backing distant from that plan. 

Meanwhile, EV income are continuing to ascent successful Canada, with EVs making up 17 per cent of each caller cars sold successful 2024. Last year, much than 270,000 caller conveyance registrations successful Canada were battery-powered EVs oregon hybrid plug-in EVs. 

"Every EV that's sold is yet going to crook into an end-of-consumer-life battery," Winfield said, adding that successful a decade, determination volition beryllium "tens of millions" of end-of-life EV batteries globally. 

The European Union acceptable regulations successful 2023 that Canada could usage arsenic a model, Winfield says, including requirements for recycled materials successful caller batteries starting successful 2031, and expanded responsibilities for producers to show the lifespan of batteries.

In a November 2024 report connected however to standard up captious mineral recycling, the IEA recommended providing clear, semipermanent regulations which it noted are "crucial for instilling assurance successful investors and recycling companies." 

Maria Kelleher, an biology advisor who antecedently worked with Environment and Climate Change Canada connected managing EV artillery recycling, noted definite regulations would spur concern and assistance fledging projects standard up commercially successful Canada and North America. 

"If the authorities says you person to person recycled contented [in caller batteries], it provides the recyclers with certainty, due to the fact that the companies buying the merchandise person to bargain their product," she said. 

"So it does thrust the market."

How EV artillery recycling works

Recycling lithium-ion batteries that powerfulness EVs happens successful 2 stages. First, batteries are shredded into a substance called achromatic mass, which contains captious minerals similar cobalt, nickel and lithium. Then, minerals are extracted from achromatic mass, refined and sold to marque caller batteries. 

This measurement is wherever Kelleher says recycling tin go genuinely lucrative 

"The cardinal is to merchantability into the artillery proviso chain," she said, noting that the recycled worldly extracted from achromatic wide needs to beryllium consistently high-quality for manufacturers to usage it. "If you tin bash it, it's fantastic."

Lithion Technologies successful Quebec and B.C.'s RecycLiCo Battery Materials Inc. are among the recycling facilities successful Canada that person started producing achromatic wide from EV batteries successful caller years.

And Ontario-based Electra Battery Materials has been operating a palmy recycling proceedings since 2022, but hasn't reached commercialized accumulation yet. They're aiming to physique a caller works successful a associated task with Three Fires Group successful bluish Ontario that they accidental could statesman recycling EV batteries successful 2027.

But extracting minerals from achromatic wide to marque caller batteries is mostly concentrated overseas, particularly successful China and south-east Asia wherever the EV artillery recycling manufacture has grown up alongside manufacturing. 

Giving batteries a 2nd life 

Kelleher believes there's inactive plentifulness of clip for the marketplace to find its footing earlier regularisation is needed successful Canada. 

EV batteries were primitively predicted to past 8 years, but now, they person an estimated 12 to 15 twelvemonth lifespan successful vehicles. They besides clasp 80 per cent of their capableness aft usage successful vehicles, and tin past up to 10 much years erstwhile repurposed for a second-life, according to manufacture reports and experts.

That's what Vancouver-based Moment Energy is trying to execute by partnering with automakers and dealerships to repurpose aged EV batteries for usage successful vigor retention systems. 

Samreen Rattan, Moment Energy's co-founder and main operating officer, told CBC News they're already seeing request for repurposing ramp up, and expect the archetypal highest to commencement successful 2030.

"In bid for this to genuinely beryllium streamlined, I deliberation having a national argumentation would spell a agelong way," Rattan said, adding that guidelines are indispensable truthful the repurposing measurement isn't skipped.

Ultimately, Kelleher says regulations aren't needfully needed until the EV artillery recycling marketplace develops a much unafraid supply, thing she says "won't hap until you person scale, until you person capable batteries astatine end-of-life."

But Winfield argues we request to determination present successful bid to person the infrastructure to woody with the spent batteries poised to participate the recycling marketplace successful waves.

Based connected yearly caller conveyance registrations of EVs successful Canada since 2011, and assuming a 12-year lifespan wrong a conveyance and a 10-year secondary usage lifespan, determination volition beryllium astatine slightest 93,000 EV batteries that necessitate recycling by 2040, with a further 500,000 acceptable betwixt 2040 and 2045. 

"I don't deliberation there's immoderate excuse for not getting up of this," Winfield said. "It would beryllium a monumental deficiency of foresight."

So what are Canadian governments doing? 

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) told CBC News successful an emailed connection that managing EV batteries astatine their end-of-life is up to provinces and territories.

ECCC pointed to B.C.'s 2021 announcement that it would adhd EV batteries to its extended shaper work programme by 2026, which would necessitate EV automakers to put for their batteries to beryllium recycled oregon reused.

Except B.C. told CBC News that it volition nary longer beryllium adding EV batteries to the programme by 2026.

The provincial Ministry of Environment and Parks said the alteration came aft consultation "with manufacture and different impacted parties" and successful airy of "significant planetary changes successful the rapidly evolving electrical conveyance (EV) artillery market." It besides said it "may research further consultation," but did not supply a caller timeline for erstwhile regularisation mightiness beryllium considered. 

WATCH | Canada's propulsion to fig retired what to bash with EV batteries aft they die: 

ECCC besides pointed to a voluntary artillery betterment programme initiated successful Quebec in 2023. This programme allows consumers to scope retired to partnering automakers that volition prime up drained batteries and put adjacent steps. 

Quebec considered adding EV batteries to an extended shaper work programme successful 2021, but aft receiving feedback from the industry, the state said it dropped the idea. The state besides held 2 workshops successful 2023 and 2024 to research "whether and however this assemblage should beryllium regulated," according to an emailed statement.

Ontario, which has 1 of the highest rates of EV adoption successful Canada told CBC News it doesn't person plans to see EV batteries successful its shaper requirements due to the fact that they're "diverted from landfills done voluntary initiatives." The province's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks said it would "continue to show the absorption activities" to spot if regulations should beryllium introduced successful the future.

Automakers and manufacture players successful Canada accidental they are already arranging recycling connected their ain — astir connection country-wide betterment of EV batteries, and galore person partnered with recycling plants for artillery shredding. However, without oversight, the occurrence of these initiatives is unclear. 

EU rules could supply 'framework of stability'

Winfield says the authorities responses are "really rather shocking," and amusement that the concern is adjacent worse than it was successful 2023, erstwhile helium archetypal worked connected a study assessing the deficiency of regulation. 

He wants to spot Canada travel the pb of the European Union, which successful 2023 added requirements for a c footprint declaration for EV batteries, expanded shaper responsibilities and introduced a "battery passport" to found a transparent integer grounds for the beingness rhythm of each azygous battery. 

It besides imposed minimum requirements starting successful 2031 for however overmuch recycled contented indispensable beryllium included successful caller batteries.  

"That provides a model of stableness for the sector, a acceptable of rules that say, 'Yes, there's going to beryllium a request for these kinds of services, determination are going to beryllium rules astir them,' " Winfield said.

"Without a regulatory model astir this, determination is nary viable concern model."