Battery Waste Management and Disposal

Battery Waste Management and Disposal

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFC), Government of India, has issued a notification on rules for battery waste management in view of the shift to electric vehicles. Anticipating a need to have an organised channel for the safe disposal and recycling of batteries, the rules, called the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, are applicable to the producer, dealer, consumer, entities involved in collection, segregation, transportation, refurbishment and recycling of waste batteries. 

All types of batteries, regardless of their chemistry, shape, volume, weight, material composition and use are covered under the rules. The rules also have a provision for penal action in case of a violation and imposition of environmental compensation. The ministry has also set a minimum recovery percentage target for recovered materials out of dry weight batteries. 

The recovered materials will be then used to produce new batteries. For FY2024-25, the recovery target is set at 70 percent whereas for FY2025-26, it is 80 percent. The target for FY2026-27 is 90 percent. Mentioning that the recovery target may be reviewed by the committee once every four years to revisit the minimum levels of recovered battery materials in light of technical and scientific progress and emerging new technologies in waste management, the notification is expected to contribute towards enhancing each and every EV’s cost to the environment in India. This is especially in connection with the fact that nearly 1.4 million EVs as of July 2022 are said to operate in India if the data shared by the ministry of road transport and highways is relied upon. More than half of this volume is claimed to consist of electric three-wheelers followed by two-wheelers and passenger cars. 

The PLI scheme and other policy changes in terms of manufacture and sale of electric vehicles, it is clear that a strong battery ELV and disposal policy has to be in place. From the cost to the environment point of view, a policy extension in terms of the manufacture of such batteries locally down to the fuel cell level should also taking into view the ability of the battery to perform efficiently through out its lifecycle, thus staying alive for longer and when it does die, it should be recyclable to a great extent. 

Dr Akshay Singhal, Founder and CEO of Log9 Materials, averred. “The newly introduced Battery Waste Management standards by the Government under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) concept addresses two important concerns. An efficient and effective waste management of all Li-Ion batteries that are nearing the end of their useful life and are expected to end up in landfills in a few years, avoiding any residual pollution impact. Second is the emphasis on investing in and nurturing the recycling of such used batteries, reducing the reliance on fresh resource mining.” 

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Shubham Vishvakarma, CEO and Chief of Process Engineering of Metastable Materials, said, “The Battery Waste Management Rules announced by the Government of India is an excellent and much-needed step towards bringing to the fore innovations and myriad growth opportunities for the battery waste management and battery treatment space in our country, especially at a time when the ongoing EV boom in India is leading us to increasing concerns on e-waste.” “Under the new Rules notified, the Government has mandated a minimum percentage of recovery of various materials from end-of-life batteries, which is bound to enable the growth of novel business models such as urban mining in order to reduce India’s foreign dependency on procuring raw materials for EV batteries and other types of batteries,” he added. 

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Ashok Sudrik, Chief Scientist, Infinite Orbit Research and Development Pvt Ltd, commented, “The Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, were much needed and we are happy that government has started taking cognizance of the hazardous waste being created and the recycling or waste collection. Other than waste management recycling rules, there is a need for manufacturers to incorporate extension of battery life technologies, keep the lithium content minimal and develop innovative cell chemistry. The life of a battery should be 4000 to 6000 cycles, which means a life spane of about 10 to 15 years. BaaS (Battery as a Service) concept with swappable batteries will be a big contributor to the ultimate goal of keeping cost to the environment low.”

In other parts of the world

In Canada, Li-Cycle will begin constructing a USD 175 million plant in Rochester, N.Y., for recycling of lithium-ion batteries. On the grounds of what used to be the Eastman Kodak complex, the plant will be the largest of its kind in North America with an eventual capacity of 25 metric kilotons of input material and a capability to recover 95 percent or more of cobalt, nickel, lithium and other valuable elements through zero-wastewater, zero-emissions process. Ajay Kochhar, Co-founder and CEO, Li-Cycle, said, “We'll be one of the largest domestic sources of nickel and lithium, as well as the only source of cobalt in the United States."  

In May 2022, Hydrovolt, the largest battery recycling plant in Europe started operations in Fredrikstad, Norway. A joint venture between two Norwegian companies – Hydro and Northvolt, the plant has the capacity to process 12,000 tonnes of battery packs per year, enough for the entire end-of-life battery market in Norway currently. Claimed to have the capability to recover 95 percent of the materials used in an EV battery including plastics, copper, aluminum and ‘black mass’, a powder containing various elements inside lithium-ion batteries like nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium. 

Not just in Europe or US, the rise of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and associated battery gigafactories is pushing forward the creation of a battery recycling value chain. It is a matter of debate whether it got to be a close-loop or an open-loop design in terms of sourcing of batteries to recycle and to put the resulting material to good use so that the cost to the environment is kept minimal. As the demand for use of ‘green’ electricity source gathers pace the world over, on the other end of the spectrum, which involved the end-of-life vehicle for EVs, the demand for recycling in increasing partly due to regulations – the EU regulations have just intensified – and partly by a demand for re-use of materials due to geo-political reasons as well. A strong desire to localise supply chains and safeguard critical raw materials are also the driving factors.  

Tangetia

Enmovil Solutions has formed a partnership with Tangentia to provide supply chain orchestration software to manufacturing and automotive enterprises in Canada. The agreement was formalised during the Team Canada Trade Mission to India in October 2026, led by Canada's Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu, which resulted in 34 agreements valued at nearly CAD 300 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will combine Enmovil's CADDIE supply chain platform with Tangentia's integration and Agentic AI systems. Tangentia will manage go-to-market operations, deployment and customer support in Canada, targeting manufacturers, automotive original equipment manufacturers, electric vehicle and battery producers, defence contractors and supplier networks. Enmovil's platform manages demand, inventory, production, and logistics planning for clients including Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra & Mahindra, TVS Motor Co, Daimler, Nestle, Hero MotoCorp, Indus Towers and Ashok Leyland.

Ravi Bulusu, Co-Founder and CEO, Enmovil, said, “Canada is a natural next step in Enmovil’s global expansion. Its manufacturing and automotive sectors run on complex, tightly connected supply chains, where faster and better-coordinated decisions translate directly into cost and service outcomes. By combining CADDIE, Industry’s leading Agentic supply chain decisioning and orchestration platform, with Tangentia’s solutions and local expertise, we can offer Canadian enterprises a joint solution that helps them make faster, better-informed supply chain decisions. We look forward to working with Tangentia to bring this to more businesses in Canada.”

Vijay Thomas, CEO, Tangentia, said, “Canadian manufacturers, Retailers and Distributors are under growing pressure to build supply chains that are more resilient and responsive. CADDIE, Enmovil’s supply chain decisioning and orchestration platform, has proven itself at scale with some of the largest manufacturing and automotive companies in India, and it complements Tangentia’s strengths in Supply Chain, EDI, integration and Agentic AI. Together, we can offer our customers a combined solution and a practical path to AI-driven supply chain decisions. This partnership is also a strong example of the growing technology ties between Canada and India.”

Visteon, SHINRY And Infineon Collaborate On Single-Stage GaN Onboard Charger

Visteon, SHINRY, Infineon - GaN

Visteon Corporation and SHINRY Technologies, operating through their joint venture Visteon-Shinry Power Electronics (VSPE), have partnered with Infineon Technologies to develop a single-stage onboard charger for electric vehicles. The announcement was made during the Electronica Trade fair in Munich.

The system combines VSPE's converter hardware topology and control strategy with Infineon's gallium nitride (GaN) monolithic bidirectional switches (BDS). The single-stage architecture consolidates power conversion functions and removes the bulk capacitors used in two-stage onboard chargers to reduce component count, system dimensions, and costs.

The unit supports 22 kW three-phase and 19.2 kW single-phase AC charging alongside vehicle-to-everything (V2X) bidirectional operation. Infineon's GaN BDS devices integrate bidirectional voltage blocking and current conduction into a single semiconductor unit, lowering component requirements in the power stage and shrinking the dimensions of magnetic components through switching frequency operation.

Zilai Zhao, Co-General Manager at Visteon-Shinry Power Electronics, said, “This collaboration brings together complementary strengths in vehicle electronics, power conversion and advanced semiconductors. By combining Visteon’s system expertise and Infineon’s GaN leadership, we’re delivering a transformative solution for next-generation EV platforms.”

Mark Sun, CTO, SHINRY, said, "Integrating Infineon's GaN switches with our proprietary single-stage topology is a game-changer for power density and system cost. Our R&D team is fully committed to validating this innovative architecture to meet the rigorous reliability standards of global automotive customers."

Benoit Rousseau, Vice-President of GaN Automotive, Infineon, said, “Together with Visteon-Shinry Power Electronics we are pushing the boundaries of onboard charging for the next generation of electric vehicles. Our GaN bidirectional switch, recognised as a ‘Global New Energy Vehicle Innovative Technology’ at the 2026 World New Energy Vehicle Congress, combines leading-edge switching performance and efficiency with a new level of semiconductor integration, enabling new power conversion architectures.”

DP World Joins Self-Driving Logistics Joint Venture SHIFFT As First Strategic Partner

DP World - SHIFFT

Dubai Future Foundation has announced DP World as the first strategic partner of SHIFFT, a self-driving logistics joint venture established in collaboration with autonomous vehicle technology company Oxa under the Dubai Research, Development and Innovation Programme.

The partnership focuses on developing and deploying autonomous logistics solutions across ports, terminals and industrial zones, beginning at Jebel Ali Port. The scope includes vehicle integration, autonomous driving functions, safety frameworks, fleet management, routing, digital twins, situational intelligence and operational performance optimisation.

At present, DP World operates more than 900 vehicles at Jebel Ali Port for inter-terminal container movement, alongside thousands of vehicles across its global network of over 60 ports and terminals.

Khalifa Al Qama, Chief of Research, Development and Innovation, Dubai Future Foundation, said, "The selection of DP World as the first strategic partner of SHIFFT marks an important step in developing and implementing autonomous logistics solutions from Dubai. This collaboration brings together world-leading operational expertise and advanced technologies to develop practical solutions that can be deployed and scaled globally."

Ibrahim Al Najjar, Senior Vice-President of Information Technology, DP World GCC, said, "For our customers and partners, autonomous technology translates into more predictable, resilient supply chains that keep cargo moving reliably and at speed. It also creates opportunities for our people to build future-ready skills, while strengthening Dubai’s competitiveness as a destination for trade and investment. By co-developing these technologies here, around real operational needs, we are setting new benchmarks that will benefit the wider industry."

Paul Newman, Founder and CEO, Oxa, said, "This collaboration aims to transform industrial vehicles into an intelligent, autonomous digital workforce capable of operating efficiently in complex, mixed-use environments. By working with DP World, SHIFFT is helping to elevate operational fleet performance and strengthen the long-term resilience of supply chains."

Acconeer Bags $520,000 Automotive Radar Order

Acconeer

Acconeer has secured an order valued at USD 520,000 for its A121 pulsed coherent radar sensor for mass production applications within the automotive sector. The purchase order was placed by a Japanese distributor, with product deliveries scheduled for the first half of 2027.

The A121 sensor operates on 60GHz pulsed coherent radar technology integrated within a 28 mm² surface area footprint, providing distance measurement, motion detection and object presence sensing functions.

The supply contract follows growth across Acconeer's automotive product portfolio, which also includes the A212 sensor model. The company announced that the information was submitted for publication pursuant to requirements under the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

"We are seeing strong growth within the automotive industry, driven both by our new A212 sensor – for which deliveries quadrupled in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter – and by our established A121 sensor, with volumes increasing as new models and customers are launched," said Ted Hansson, CEO, Acconeer.