Battery recycling is a viable way to ensure sustainable supplies of lithium and cobalt, but scalability, collaboration and primary raw material prices will all be key to its success, according to Christian Hagel? 1/4 ken, Umicore's director of EU government affairs.
"Closing the battery loop [is] more than just getting access to material. Recycling is a sustainable source of cobalt, lithium and nickel," Hagel? 1/4 ken said at the Advanced Automotive Batteries Conference (AABC) in Mainz, Germany, this week. "If we don't take any mitigation measures - through recycling and substitution - we run into [supply] problems, but with mitigation measures we can manage our needs," Hagel? 1/4 ken added. Battery raw material supply concerns, particularly for cobalt, are weighing on automakers who have committed to at least partial electrification of their fleets. Cobalt prices are up by more than 120% compared with a year ago, at $37-38.40 per lb, in-warehouse, according to Metal Bulletin's benchmark price assessment on Wednesday January 31. The rally has...