The global electric vehicle (EV) market is surging, with sales jumping an estimated 20% from 2024 to 2025. But as EVs become increasingly common, countries must address a crucial challenge: How to handle a growing volume of spent EV batteries.

No country’s waste management system is ready. China, the world’s biggest EV market, is facing a sobering waste management challenge as a tsunami of batteries reaches the end of their service life. Battery recycling is expensive, and even though new recycling incentives in 2018 led to a boom in Chinese recycling companies, many are struggling to make a profit. Meanwhile, EV growth has been slower across the US, Europe, and Africa, so the number of spent batteries is much smaller—but it’s growing quickly. In Kenya, for instance, electric busses, cars, and scooters are gaining momentum, and the country is expected to face some 150 metric tons of retired Lithium-ion batteries by 2030.

This event will explore notable innovations and current obstacles in battery reuse as well as “urban mining,” the process of recovering metals from discarded electronics and electric vehicles. Speakers will discuss emerging policies and approaches for building robust EV battery reuse and recycling supply chains, like the EU Digital Passport System, and will examine opportunities to bring upstream governments and mining companies into the conversation on transparency and environmental regulations for batteries. The event will also spotlight promising second-life energy storage options for EV batteries being advanced through public-private partnerships in the US and Europe.

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