Asia Pacific Battery Recycling Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2024-2032)

Battery recycling is a crucial process for environmental sustainability and resource conservation. By reclaiming materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel from used batteries, recycling not only reduces the demand for new raw materials but also minimizes the environmental impact of hazardous waste. The process involves collection, sorting, and dismantling batteries to extract valuable components for reuse in manufacturing new batteries or other products. Proper battery recycling helps mitigate pollution, reduces energy consumption, and promotes a circular economy by closing the loop on valuable resources. However, improving infrastructure and awareness around battery recycling remains essential to maximize its benefits and minimize its environmental footprint.

The Asia Pacific Battery Recycling Market is expected to grow at a steady rate of around 9.3%. Promulgating demand for electric vehicles is driving a recent surge in lithium-ion battery manufacturing. The trend is prompting demand for Asia Pacific battery recycling infrastructure to minimize waste and feed secondary materials into the supply chain. The demand for recycled lithium, cobalt, and nickel could comprise 10% to 20% of battery metal demand by the end of 2030. The surging investment in the region for the Asia Pacific battery recycling infrastructure is propelling the market's growth.

Based on the chemistry, the market is segmented into lead acid, lithium-based, nickel-based, and others. The lead-acid segment is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. Lead-acid battery recycling held a significant share in the market owing to cost-effectiveness and a well-developed supply chain. Further, lead-acid batteries are highly recyclable, with several countries achieving recycling rates of over 90%. Lowering the cost of lithium-ion batteries and increasing the adoption of electric vehicles would increase the demand for lithium-ion batteries. As a result, the recycling rate of lithium-ion batteries would also increase since the average life of lithium-ion batteries is about 10 years.

Based on the source, the market is fragmented into automotive, industrial, consumer & electronics, and Others. Automotives hold a significant share of the market in terms of value owing to the increasing demand for automobiles. Further, the growing number of stringent government regulations related to Asia Pacific battery recycling is also propelling the market's growth. In addition, the shorter average life of automotive batteries of around 4 to 6 years resulted in an early recycling rate compared to other types of batteries like lithium-ion fueling market growth.

For a better understanding of the market adoption of the battery recycling industry, the market is analyzed based on its worldwide presence in countries such as China, Japan, India, Australia, and the Rest of Asia Pacific. China is expected to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. China is the largest producer and seller of automobiles. For instance, in 2020, the country produced around 25 million vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles. Further, the country has the largest number of smartphone users. In addition, lower recycling costs, less stringent environmental regulations compared to Western economies, and a large and growing number of recycling plants in the country are some of the key attributable factors to the growing battery recycling market in the country. Further, the country is the largest consumer of electric vehicles, which is also creating a huge growth opportunity for the companies engaged in recycling services, as these batteries have limited average life. After that, these batteries can be recycled, which also has commercial value as it contains several rare metals.

Some of the major players operating in the market include Call2Recycle Inc., Battery Solutions LLC, Umicore N.V., Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., GEM Co. Ltd., EnerSys, Johnson Controls International plc., Aqua Metals Inc., Exide Industries, and Sunlight Battery.