Mitsubishi Materials, a Japanese metals company, will embark on the commercial recycling of rare earth metals, including cobalt and lithium, taken from used lithium-ion batteries of electric vehicles (EVs), starting in fiscal 2025.

Nikkei Asia reports that the company aims to increase its processing capacity to 6,000 metric tons per year by fiscal 2030 with the help of its recycling partner, Envipro Holdings. The two firms will work together to develop a technology that will efficiently recover rare earth metals from the batteries.

Mitsubishi Materials and Envipro will collaborate to accelerate development by combining their hydrometallurgical technology and collaborating to develop technologies for the commercialization of minor metal recovery and refinement using black mass as the raw material.

The companies will contribute to the development of an integrated system from lithium-ion battery recycling to the stable supply of materials for the same battery by establishing recycling technology for recovering these minor metals with high efficiency. 

Rare Earth Metals in Electric Vehicle Batteries

Concerns about the lack of rare earths have grown as electric vehicles (EVs) have become more popular. This has led other major nonferrous metal producers to step up their recycling efforts as well.

Japan's battery industry imports cobalt and lithium, but the country is trying to set up a system that will let it recycle resources at home so that more people will buy electric vehicles.

According to data from the Congressional Research Service, the expected rise in sales of electric vehicles (EVs) has made people worried about getting enough of the minerals used to make EV batteries.

Estimates suggest that 200 million EVs will be sold by 2030. Over 16 million EVs have been sold worldwide, with approximately 6.6 million sold in 2021.

Read Also: Plug-in Hybrid EVs Are Dirty, Emits 5-7 Times More CO2 with Engine-Not Clean Energy?

Issues with Rare Earth Mining

Rare earth metals are used in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, but supplies are limited and unstable.

According to InvestingNews, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which produces 70% of the world's cobalt and has a 3.5 million metric ton cobalt reserve, is dealing with internal conflict and child labor issues.

Lithium extraction is also difficult, and producers have struggled to keep up with demand. Meanwhile, other countries with large reserves of rare earth elements, such as Australia and Indonesia, have many players competing for supply.

Mitsubishi Materials and Envipro Holdings

Mitsubishi Materials and Envipro Holdings intend to launch a battery recycling business by fiscal 2025. The partners want to be able to process 6,000 metric tons per year by the fiscal year 2030.

The project is expected to cost several billion yen or tens of millions of dollars. The recycled metals will be sold to battery raw material producers.

Nikkei Asia says that other Japanese companies, like Dowa Holdings and JX Nippon Mining & Metals, are also setting up businesses to get lithium and other rare earth metals out of black mass, with the goal of making their recycling processes available to the public soon.

EU Green Deal 2050

The construction of recycling plants, such as those pushed by Mitsubishi Materials, could be critical to the EU's goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. As the need for clean energy grows, there will be more demand for rare earth minerals. This could be a big deal for the EU's plans to use renewable energy.

The proposed battery regulations from the European Union set future recycling ratios for cobalt, lithium, and nickel in batteries and other parts. Japan will need to deal with recycling regulations as it works to increase the number of EVs in the country. 

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