c. The batteries are marked “RECONDITIONED” or with substantially similar language; and d. The entity that reconditions the cells and batteries is identified on the unit and assumes all legal respon- sibilities and liabilities associated with the use and final disposal of the cells and batteries.

Experts note that separation of different kinds of battery materials is often a stumbling block for the recovery of high-value materials which makes the battery design that builds in con- siderations for disassembly and recycling important to the success of EV sustainability. Standardization of batteries, materials, and cell design would also make recycling easier and more cost-effective. ARA’s Technical Advisory Committee and its Large Platform Battery Workgroup is working on this issue and invites professional automotive recyclers to contact ARA if they would like to contribute to these efforts.

Lithium Supply Challenge

Estimates suggest that by 2020, electric vehicles (EVs) are likely to account for more than 7 percent of the global transportation market and studies reveal that many automakers have adopted LIBs as the preferred EV energy storage option, reportedly capable of delivering the required energy and power density in a relatively small, lightweight package. In order to prevent a future shortage of lithium and other valuable raw materials used in LIBs, how- ever, the development of a recycling process which can be applied to spent LIBs and production rejects becomes crucial.

According to several articles written on this topic, there are a number of challenges that are likely to impact lithium supply in the future. Although there is reportedly a sufficient amount of lithium resources available globally to meet the demand, almost 70% of the global lithium deposits are concentrated in South America’s ABC (Argentina, Bolivia and Chile) region. This geographic concentration poses an inherent risk due to the accessibility of the raw material. Lithium is also consumed by a number of other applications or sectors like construction, pharma- ceuticals, ceramics and glass. So far the consumption by the automotive industry has been only a small fraction of the use by other industries. To secure lithium resources, inter-governmental as well as OEM–governmental partnerships are being established. Vehicle manufacturers and the national governments are treating lithium as the future energy source and have started forging alliances to safeguard their needs.

For example, Toyota and Magna International- Mitsubishi have forged partnerships with lithium exploration companies and have invested large sums to develop lithium deposits in Argentina to safeguard and secure the lithium resources to fulfil their needs. In addition, Japan has developed a partnership with the Bolivian Government, which binds the former to offer comprehensive economic aid in exchange of supplies of lithium and other rare-earth metals from the latter.

Need for Recycling Challenge

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are looking at overcoming the dependency on lithium through reuse of lithium batteries in other applica- tions (second-life) and through recycling the batteries once they have completed their lifecycle. Experts claim, however, that it does not make any economic sense to recycle the batteries because they contain only a small fraction of lithium carbonate as a percent of weight which is much less valuable than cobalt or nickel. Intrinsic value for the LIB recycling business currently comes from the associated valuable metals such as cobalt and nickel that are more highly priced than lithium. However, with the increasing number of electric vehicles (EV) entering the market in the future and with a significant supply crunch of Li-on projected,

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