Why Collection, Not Technology, Limits Recycling

Shredding, black mass production and hydrometallurgical refining are all running commercially in several regions. There is room to improve recovery rates, energy use and graphite recovery, but a well-run plant can already recover most of the valuable metals in a cell. When refineries run below capacity, the usual reason is not a technical limit but a shortage of feed.

That shortage has several causes. EVs are lasting longer than early forecasts suggested, many retired packs are reused before they reach recycling, and a large share of end-of-life batteries, especially from two- and three-wheelers, still pass through channels that are hard to see and harder to regulate.

Batteries tend to stall wherever responsibility is unclear. An independent workshop may hold a replaced pack for months because nobody has asked for it. A fleet may store retired packs while it decides whether to sell them. A small dealer may sell to the first buyer who offers cash, without checking whether that buyer is registered.

Each of these delays adds safety risk and erodes value. Packs stored at high state of charge in unventilated rooms are a fire hazard, and informal dismantling can destroy modules that could have been reused. Collection programmes that remove friction for these holders do more for recycling rates than further process improvements.

Producer responsibility rules, such as India's Battery Waste Management Rules 2022 and the EU Battery Regulation, give manufacturers a legal reason to organise collection. Those obligations work best when paired with practical services: free packaging, scheduled pickups, simple paperwork and clear settlement based on measured value.

Data helps too. Where fleets and manufacturers share expected retirement volumes in advance, collection can be planned rather than reactive, and packs spend less time sitting in storage. In our experience, the programmes that perform best are the ones that make handing over a battery easier than keeping it.