Finding
Recycling capacity is running ahead of end-of-life supply, so recyclers live on gigafactory scrap, and the profitable step - refining black mass into battery-grade salts - is concentrated in China
Most EV packs on the road are still within their first life, so today's feed is mostly production scrap from cell plants. Brunp (CATL), GEM and Huayou in China, Redwood Materials in Nevada, and Umicore, Hydrovolt and Fortum in Europe have built shredding and hydrometallurgical capacity ahead of that wave; several Western projects, including Li-Cycle's Rochester Hub (now owned by Glencore), stalled when metal prices fell.
Pyrometallurgy smelts cells and recovers nickel, cobalt and copper but loses most lithium to slag unless a hydrometallurgical step follows. Hydrometallurgy shreds packs into black mass, a powder of cathode and anode material, then leaches and precipitates lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese salts; it is now the dominant route. Direct recycling (Princeton NuEnergy, OnTo Technology) tries to restore cathode crystal structure without breaking it down and remains at pilot scale. LFP is the hard case: it contains no nickel or cobalt, so recovered value per ton is low and lithium recovery must carry the economics.
Policy now pulls recycled material into new cells. The EU Battery Regulation sets recycled-content minimums for EV batteries from 2031 (16% cobalt, 6% lithium, 6% nickel) and lithium recovery targets of 50% by 2027 and 80% by 2031. China licenses recyclers through an MIIT whitelist. Second-life reuse in stationary storage (B2U Storage Solutions, Moment Energy, Nissan's 4R Energy) defers recycling but faces falling new-LFP storage prices.
The tables below list 57 recycling and second-life sites; 13 of the operating recyclers stop at black mass. In 2025-26 the Western shake-out continued: Li-Cycle went into creditor protection and was sold to Glencore, Ascend Elements put its Kentucky project into Chapter 11, and Northvolt's Revolt plants passed to Lyten, while Redwood started its South Carolina campus and BASF opened a 15,000-ton black mass plant at Schwarzheide.
Routes
Recycling routes compared
Four technical pathways and who runs them.
| Route | Process | Recovers | Weakness | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical pretreatment | Discharge, shred, separate into black mass, foils and plastics | Black mass, copper and aluminum | Intermediate only; needs refining | Li-Cycle spokes, Cirba, Ecobat, Stena |
| Pyrometallurgy | High-temperature smelting to alloy and slag | Nickel, cobalt, copper | Lithium and manganese to slag; energy-intensive | Umicore Hoboken, Sumitomo Metal Mining |
| Hydrometallurgy | Leach black mass; precipitate or solvent-extract salts | Lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese salts | Chemical and wastewater intensive | Brunp, GEM, Huayou, Redwood, Hydrovolt, Fortum, SungEel |
| Direct recycling | Relithiate and restore cathode without dissolution | Cathode active material | Pilot scale; chemistry-specific | Princeton NuEnergy, OnTo Technology, Battery Resources |
Second life
Second-life battery operators
Operators repurposing retired EV packs for stationary storage, backup and grid balancing.
| Plant | Location | Partners | t/yr | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnaby Second Life Plant (Moment Energy) | Burnaby, Canada | Nissan; BMW (pack supply) | 2,000 | operational |
| Flins Re-Factory (Renault Re-Factory) | Flins, France | Renault (captive) | 10,000 | operational |
| Metz Second Life Hub (Stellantis Free2Move) | Metz, France | Stellantis (captive) | 3,000 | operational |
| Leipzig Battery Refurbishment (BMW Second Life) | Leipzig, Germany | BMW (captive) | 2,000 | operational |
| Moka Second Life (Honda / Subaru) | Moka, Japan | Honda (captive) | 1,000 | operational |
| Namie Second Life Plant (Nissan / 4R Energy) | Namie, Japan | Nissan (captive) | 3,000 | operational |
| Birmingham Second Life (Aceleron Energy) | Birmingham, UK | Multiple OEM pack sources | 1,000 | operational |
| Lancaster California (B2U Storage Solutions) | Lancaster, USA | Nissan (Leaf pack supply) | 7,000 | operational |
| Bend Oregon Direct+Second Life (OnTo Technology) | Bend, USA | Ford | 1,000 | operational |
| OKC Refurbishment Campus (Spiers New Technologies) | Oklahoma City, USA | GM; Tesla; Nissan (warranty packs) | 5,000 | operational |
| Yellowstone Second Life (Toyota) | Yellowstone, USA | Toyota (captive) | 500 | operational |
Recyclers
Recyclers producing black mass and battery-grade materials
Output shows where each plant stops: black mass (shred only), battery-grade salts (hydrometallurgical refining), alloy (smelting) or cathode material (direct recycling). Status order: operational, ramping, under construction, announced, paused, cancelled, closed.
| Plant | Location | Process | Output | t/yr | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoboken Recycling Campus (Umicore) | Hoboken, Belgium | pyrometallurgy + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 7,000 | operational |
| Multiple EU Sites (Veolia) | Limburg, Belgium, France | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 25,000 | operational |
| Trail Plant (Cirba Solutions (formerly Retriev)) | Trail, Canada | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 8,000 | operational |
| Kingston Spoke (Glencore (formerly Li-Cycle)) | Kingston, Canada | mechanical | black mass | operational | |
| Montreal Hydromet Plant (Lithion Recycling) | Montreal, Canada | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 3,000 | operational |
| Yichang Recycling Base (Brunp Recycling (CATL subsidiary)) | Yichang, China | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 80,000 | operational |
| Ningxiang Recycling Base (Brunp Recycling (CATL)) | Ningxiang, China | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | operational | |
| Xinyu Recycling Plant (Ganfeng Lithium Recycling) | Xinyu, China | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 30,000 | operational |
| Wuhan Recycling Base (GEM) | Wuhan, China | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | operational | |
| Jingmen Recycling Hub (GEM (Green Eco-Manufacture)) | Jingmen, China | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 100,000 | operational |
| Quzhou Recycling Base (Huayou Cobalt) | Quzhou, China | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | operational | |
| Tongxiang Recycling Division (Huayou Cobalt Recycling) | Tongxiang, China | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 50,000 | operational |
| Harjavalta Hydromet Plant (Fortum Battery Recycling) | Harjavalta, Finland | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | operational | |
| Ikaalinen Mechanical Plant (Fortum Battery Recycling) | Ikaalinen, Finland | mechanical | black mass | 10,000 | operational |
| Flins Re-Factory (Renault Re-Factory) | Flins, France | refurbishment + mechanical | black mass | 10,000 | operational |
| Viviez Recycling Plant (SNAM) | Viviez, France | pyrometallurgy + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 20,000 | operational |
| Krefeld Plant (Accurec Recycling) | Krefeld, Germany | pyrometallurgy + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 10,000 | operational |
| Schwarzheide Black Mass Plant (BASF) | Schwarzheide, Germany | mechanical | black mass | 15,000 | operational |
| Magdeburg Spoke (Glencore (formerly Li-Cycle)) | Magdeburg, Germany | mechanical | black mass | 10,000 | operational |
| Hilchenbach Plant (Primobius (SMS group and Neometals)) | Hilchenbach, Germany | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 5,000 | operational |
| Multiple EU Sites (REMONDIS Battery Recycling) | Laimen, Germany | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 15,000 | operational |
| Salzgitter Recycling Pilot Plant (Volkswagen Group Components) | Salzgitter, Germany | mechanical | black mass | 1,500 | operational |
| Niihama Recycling Integration (Sumitomo Metal Mining) | Niihama, Japan | pyrometallurgy + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 10,000 | operational |
| Fredrikstad Plant (Hydro (Hydrovolt)) | Fredrikstad, Norway | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 12,000 | operational |
| Cheongju Recycling Plant (EcoPro CnG) | Pohang, South Korea | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 20,000 | operational |
| Gwangyang Recycling Plant (POSCO HY Clean Metal) | Gwangyang, South Korea | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 12,000 | operational |
| Gunsan Recycling Plant (SungEel HiTech) | Gunsan, South Korea | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 30,000 | operational |
| Halmstad Battery Recycling (Stena Recycling) | Halmstad, Sweden | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 5,000 | operational |
| Devon Recycling Pilot (Altilium Metals) | Devon, UK | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 2,000 | operational |
| Fernley Nevada Plant (ABTC) | McCarran, USA | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 20,000 | operational |
| Covington Georgia Spoke (Ascend Elements) | Covington, USA | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 15,000 | operational |
| Worcester Pilot (Ascend Elements (formerly Battery Resourcers)) | Worcester, USA | direct recycling | cathode material | 1,000 | operational |
| Lancaster and US Plants (Cirba Solutions) | Lancaster, USA | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 20,000 | operational |
| Bend Oregon Direct+Second Life (OnTo Technology) | Bend, USA | direct recycling + refurbishment | cathode material | 1,000 | operational |
| NJ Direct Recycling Pilot (Princeton NuEnergy) | South Brunswick, USA | direct recycling | cathode material | 500 | operational |
| McCarran Nevada Campus (Redwood Materials) | McCarran, USA | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 60,000 | operational |
| South Carolina Campus (Redwood Materials) | Ridgeville, USA | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 20,000 | operational |
| Multiple US+EU Sites (Ecobat) | USA, Germany, UK | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 10,000 | operational |
| Ontario Direct Recycling Hub (Electra Battery Materials) | Temiskaming Shores, Canada | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 5,000 | under construction |
| Dormagen Plant (Cylib) | Dormagen, Germany | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 30,000 | under construction |
| Indonesia Recycling Plant (IBC project) (Brunp Recycling (CATL)) | East Halmahera, Indonesia | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | under construction | |
| Hungary Plant (SungEel HiTech) | Komarom, Hungary | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 10,000 | announced |
| Kalimantan Recycling Hub (GEM) | Indonesia | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | announced | |
| Nysa Recycling (Umicore) | Nysa, Poland | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 20,000 | paused |
| Revolt Ett Skellefteå (Lyten) | Skelleftea, Sweden | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | paused | |
| Vasteras Recycling (Northvolt Revolt) | Vasteras, Sweden | mechanical + hydrometallurgy | black mass | 5,000 | paused |
| Rochester Hub (Glencore (formerly Li-Cycle)) | Rochester, USA | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 35,000 | paused |
| Hopkinsville Kentucky Apex 1 (Ascend Elements) | Hopkinsville, USA | hydrometallurgy | battery-grade salts | 30,000 | cancelled |
Rules
Recycling rules by region
Regulation sets collection, recovery and recycled-content requirements.
| Region | Instrument | Key requirements |
|---|---|---|
| European Union | Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 | Recycled content in EV batteries from 2031: 16% cobalt, 6% lithium, 6% nickel, rising in 2036; lithium recovery 50% by 2027, 80% by 2031; digital battery passport from 2027 |
| China | MIIT industry standard conditions (whitelist); producer responsibility | Licensed recyclers only; traceability of traction batteries from production to recycling |
| United States | No federal recycling mandate; state programs; IIJA grants | Recycled North American material counted toward critical-mineral sourcing; DOE grants and loans for recycling plants |
Sources
Sources and scope
- Scope
- EV Battery Recycling Facilities
- Sources
- ElectronsX recycling dataset; EU Regulation 2023/1542; company disclosures
- Updated
- October 2026