Responsible Secondary Cobalt
Currently, most recycled cobalt on the global market comes from battery manufacturing scrap and presents relatively fewer risks of improper disposal. Therefore, the report focuses on secondary cobalt feedstocks that are currently not recycled, or at risk of being lost for recycling. In the immediate term, spent lithium-ion batteries in portable electronics represent the greatest source of wasted cobalt globally. In the coming decade spent electric vehicle (EV) batteries will become the largest source of secondary cobalt globally, as increasing numbers of vehicles reach their end of life, resulting in significant volumes of material that will need to be managed.
With the recommendations from the report Cobalt Institute encourages policy makers and industry stakeholders to work collaboratively and achieve a responsible circular economy for cobalt.