Battery Recycling : South Africa: Little scope for Li-ion battery recycling despite predicted demand
In the next few years, demand for lithium-ion batteries is set to explode in South Africa.
The expected promulgation of electric vehicles and electronic consumer goods such as laptops, cameras and Bluetooth earbuds are contributing factors to this state of affairs.
Yet the country does not have a recycling process set in place for lithium batteries.
In a report addressing these circumstances, mineral processing expert Mintek cites low battery collection rates as well as a lack in collection infrastructure as reasons. A lack of financial incentives to boost the electric car market may serve as another explanation.
According to Mariekie Gericke, bio-metallurgy manager at Mintek, sufficient waste volume to warrant the establishment of battery processing facilities would be 500 tonnes per year, unlike the 6-10 tonnes collected in the country in 2019.
Yet interest in the field is growing, as battery waste, which, when not dumped on landfills, is often exported. As European and American battery recycling facilities only accept a certain volume of lithium-ion batteries for recycling, the development of domestic recycling solutions seems unavoidable.
A 2015 report (‘Lithium Battery Recycling’) produced by Johannesburg based metallurgical consultancy CM Solutions found the establishment of a functional lithium battery recycling operation difficult to finance as a stand-alone process. Suggestions made within the study entail a possible recycling fee on battery imports. The hope expressed is that the levying of a battery recycling charge as part of existing petrol and diesel fuel levies may boost electric vehicle adaptation in South Africa, a market, which, despite its predicted exponential growth, has not been adequately reflected in the government’s official automobile policy.
Battery manufacturing based on imported cells is an area in which South Africa excels, despite being deficient in the recycling sector, according to a March 2021 study jointly commissioned by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). The study also points out that opportunities for regional cooperation in the quest to establish a lithium-ion battery value chain are given, considering that graphite can be sourced from Mozambique, nickel from Botswana and Zimbabwe and titanium from Madagascar.
Recycling lithium-ion batteries can also be beneficial for the economy, as they contain critical metals. With sustainable sourcing on the global agenda, mining rare earths is not always an option, as, for example, cobalt, commonly used in car batteries, stems from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country notorious for human rights abuses.
Raw materials most in demand within the South African context are copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium.
The global li-ion battery recycling industry was worth about $1.5 billion in 2019 and is expected to increase to $12.2 billion by 2025 and $18.1 billion by 2030.