Based on the battery compositions research tool created in the ProSUM project and further developed in the ORAMA project, the market inputs, the stocks and waste generation potential are computed. A sales – lifespan lifetime approach is applied for each chemistry – application combination by means of applying a specific set of Weibull parameters. These parameters describe the lifespan distribution for each entry. This mathematical approach is identical to the common methodology for determining market inputs and waste generated as implemented for the WEEE Directive. The units of portable batteries and the number of electronic items placed on the EU market are aligned. More information on the data sources used is available in the methodological notes.
Based on this approach, the following results are obtained for the stocks of battery raw materials present in the EU28. The graph shows that in the last 15 years the stocks of relevant battery raw materials accumulating in Europe have more than doubled, with the highest growth rates observed for cobalt, copper, graphite and lithium.
Reporting obligations concerning batteries are regulated by the Batteries Directive (2006/66/EC). Three battery types are distinguished: portable, industrial, and automotive batteries. For portable batteries, three subtypes are relevant: lead-acid (PbA), nickel-cadmium (NiCd) and other batteries.
When grouped according to these Battery Directive categories, the following amounts are generated as waste over time as illustrated in the next graph. There is a significant growth rate over the years in the total amount of waste batteries potentially becoming available for collection and recycling. It should be kept in mind that these volumes are the (potential) total number or weight of products estimated to be discarded and physically leaving the stock as waste. This includes batteries for reuse leaving the EU in the form of exports of second-hand electronics and used vehicles. This reduces the volume that could be collected theoretically. More detailed numbers are available in the data viewer.
Li-ion batteries play a dominant role in the xEV battery market and thereby deserve special attention. The below figure shows in yellow the total weight of the new types of traction batteries for xEV compared to the total market inputs visualised by the other colours. To provide more details compared to the previous chart, automotive batteries are split into vehicle traction versus SLI (Starting, Lighting and Ignition) batteries. Portable batteries are split into electronics single-use versus rechargeable batteries. The latter portable – rechargeable category includes batteries used for e-bikes. Other batteries includes all other and industrial batteries, but excludes traction batteries now shown separately.
The above chart shows that traction batteries have a relatively small share but these volumes will increase sharply and form a significant share of the total battery volumes in the future.
The total amounts placed on the market per xEV drivetrain (HEV, PHEV and BEV) are visualized in the next figure. Besides Li-ion batteries, NiMH batteries still play a role in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). Besides nickel, NiMH batteries contain a variety of CRMs such as cobalt and rare earth elements (REE). More detailed numbers per raw material per traction battery type are available in the data viewer. Here, the effects of the new traction batteries amounts placed on market, in-use stock and waste generated potential can be browsed for each individual material. More information on the number of electric cars is available at Eurostat.
Currently, there are four main chemistries being used for the xEV sector: Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC), Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium Oxide (NCA), Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP). A fifth chemistry on the horizon is Lithium Titanate (LTO). Each of these chemistries have different advantages and disadvantages related to performance, lifetime, costs, energy density and power density (Hill et al., 2019).
A case study has been conducted as part of the ORAMA project, looking at improved datasets of batteries in xEV, updated classification code lists and CRM flows in end-of-life vehicles (ELV) in Norway. In (Wagner et al., 2019), specific data are available on the chemistry and weight of the battery packs per vehicle type. The market for xEV currently grows at a rate of more than 25 %, depending on the application and region. A diversification in applications beyond cars like in buses, trucks, other light to heavy commercial vehicles and even drones can be observed from the market data (VITO, Fraunhofer, Viegand Maagoe, 2018).
