India’s battery market is experiencing remarkable growth, with forecast of a 16.80% CAGR from 2024 to 2029, driven by the noticeable, consistent push for electric vehicles (EVs) as part of the country’s larger climate goals. The battery boom goes beyond EVs as these batteries increasingly find usage in other industries, including consumer electronics. While this growth and shift to cleaner energy is a welcome transition, it also presents a significant challenge – the mounting waste from these batteries and its management; an ever-increasing environmental, economic, and logistical hurdle.

Ecotoxicity and Economic Concerns

The limited domestic reserves of critical minerals, such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel, are essential in the manufacturing of batteries required to power these vehicles. India’s demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) is expected to exceed 300 GWh between 2022 and 2030. As innovative solutions for battery waste management like hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy pick up pace, having industry-wide regulations in place that can standardize practices becomes crucial.

A range of emerging players across big firms to start-ups and recyclers in the unorganised sector, alongside collaboration between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and manufacturers, is required to safely dispose of complex battery compositions. The lack of recycling infrastructure costs us not only in environmental and economic terms but also keeps us back from growth opportunities. Failing to take action now means we could miss out on the 35 million green jobs to be generated in India by 2047.

Current Landscape: Gaps and Opportunities

India currently represents less than 5% of the global recycling industry, valued at 0.4-0.45 million tons per annum. Capital-intensive recycling plants added with the expenditure of transportation that amounts to nearly 35-50% costs, are significant hurdles for recyclers. A revision of existing policies and regular monitoring are necessary to ensure that our progress is sustainable. This can only be achieved by strengthening supply-side and demand-side policy interventions.

Government initiatives such as Make in India, PM e-Drive Scheme and FAME-II have encouraged the growth of India’s domestic battery manufacturing industries. Particularly, the Rs. 18, 100 crore national program on ACC Battery Storage incentivizes firms to take lead in the EV sector. As governments promote private players into building industry frameworks, the policies for battery recycling must move in tandem and counter the waste generated along the way.

Key Policy Interventions

The Battery Waste Management Regulations 2022 have played a key role, pulling together all entities—from producers, consumers, and waste management authorities to recyclers and refurbishers. Incentives, strict measures, and pollution control standards are set in place to encourage compliance, for instance, the minimum recovery targets which mandate 90% of total weight to be recovered by 2026-27.

Extended Producer Responsibility is an important addition to the BWMR 2022, revised from the 2001 regulations. This places the onus of recycling on the producers, through recycling/refurbishing targets and safe handling measures, along with floor price incentives to promote collection efficiency. Minimum use of domestically recycled materials in new batteries, projected to be 20% of total composition of EVs by 2030 onwards, further strengthen the recycling industry by completing the loop.

Promoting Security through Future-Proof Policies

We must build along the supply chain – from collection to safe dismantling, recycling, and repurposing to minimise hazards and maximise our material utilisation. An effective waste collection network of designated collection points, logistics, and transportation is necessary to create a circular economy where valuable metals are sourced back to the manufacturing pathways such as EVs, charging stations and in battery storage systems with a renewed second life.

Policy interventions that promote consumer responsibility like waste separation and policies to support research and development in battery recycling technologies are urgently needed to bring about a long-term shift in the way we treat our waste. Building a skilled workforce, stronger inter-industry collaborations, and conscious consumers is essential for establishing an effective battery recycling infrastructure in India.