Imagine you took two sips from a glass of champagne and poured the rest down the sink. Or ate two pieces of chocolate and threw the rest of the bar away. Or, with 80% of its useful life remaining, you threw away a £5,000 car battery — a battery that contains many rare-earth metals and valuable minerals, is at least 70% recyclable, and could have decades of second life in domestic renewable energy systems. Makes no sense, does it? But without intervention, a landfill will be the fate of most electric vehicle (EV) — and other types — of batteries.
This wasteful use of valuable resources is pushing us to our social, environmental, and economic limits. Finance professionals are well aware of the rising economic costs of scarce resources and the benefits of reducing waste. Waste is simply stuff we have paid good money for but can’t use or sell. But is all “waste” really…
Electric vehicle batteries: A case for the circular economy
