Exclusive: Biden’s electric vehicle plan includes battery recycling push

President Joe Biden’s strategy to make the United States a powerhouse in electric vehicles includes boosting domestic recycling of batteries to reuse lithium and other metals. Biden’s administration is set to wrap up a 100-day review of gaps in supply chains in key areas, including electric vehicles (EV). These gaps include the minerals used in EV batteries and consumer electronics. Ways to reduce metal usage in new battery chemistries is also being looked by the administration.

Reports from various government agencies will be submitted to the White House. Democrats are pushing aggressive to change the U.S.-manufactured cars into electric by 2030 and every car on the road to be electric by 2040. This is their goal towards changing the climate. A major obstacle is that securing enough cobalt, lithium and other raw materials to make EV batteries.

Investment in projects and scientific research, as well as spending funds approved by Congress are the steps taken by the administration towards this process. Boosting domestic recycling would help the administration further. One of the officials said that when you look at the way the U.S. has approached the recycling opportunity, what’s very evident is that they need to invest in that capacity, they need to take a more proactive approach.

The White House would like to see more recycling plants similar to the lithium in the United States. The ongoing research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, is effectively expanded, which has been the focal point for much of the government’s battery recycling research. These steps would help Biden avoid some battles with environmentalists and other constituencies opposed to mining. They can power the renewable energy transition without digging new holes in the ground, said Payal Sampat of Earthworks.