Upstream Partnerships for Ethical Supply
Western lithium and graphite producers have even begun charging premium prices for materials with strong ESG credentials, as EV makers seek supply that’s cleaner and not tied to China. For example, Canada’s Nouveau Monde Graphite noted “there’s a premium to secure material from North America… We have the highest ESG standards”. Automakers are directly investing in mining projects to ensure a responsible supply of critical minerals: a notable case is General Motors teaming with Lithium Americas to develop the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, a joint venture finalized at the end of 2024. This trend, encouraged by government incentives, is anchoring more battery mineral production in regions with rigorous environmental and labor standards.
Battery material producers are also stepping up. In March 2025, Belgium’s Umicore signed deals to source precursor cathode materials (pCAM) from new low-carbon plants in Morocco and South Korea. These suppliers leverage renewable energy and advanced tech to cut the carbon footprint of battery-grade nickel and cobalt, helping Umicore ensure a diversified, sustainable feedstock for its cathode factories. Ensuring ethical, transparent sourcing is crucial for minerals like cobalt, nickel, and lithium, which face scrutiny over environmental and human rights impacts. Toward that end, many battery manufacturers – including CATL, Samsung SDI, and SK On – accelerated moves to reduce reliance on high-risk minerals, for instance by developing cobalt-free battery chemistries and strengthening supplier audit programs. Such initiatives align with automakers’ sustainability targets and upcoming regulations requiring detailed traceability of critical minerals from mine to cell.
Circular Economy Initiatives Cut Footprint
Late 2024 saw significant advances in battery recycling and “closed-loop” programs that reuse materials, reducing the need for virgin mining. Mercedes-Benz opened a high-tech battery recycling plant in Germany capable of recovering up to 96% of the lithium, nickel, cobalt and other critical metals from used EV batteries. Those reclaimed materials will feed into new battery production, illustrating how recycling can both meet new EU requirements for material recovery and sharply lower the carbon footprint of batteries. (Recycling studies show the carbon emissions of reusing battery metals are dramatically lower – on the order of 70-80% less – than producing metals via mining.)
Battery makers and car manufacturers are forming closed-loop partnerships to keep materials in use. In one pioneering tie-up, Volvo Cars teamed with CATL in 2024 to recycle end-of-life EV batteries and reuse the extracted lithium, nickel, and cobalt in new cells for Volvo’s future vehicles. Volvo will collect spent batteries (including manufacturing scrap) and have over 90% of the metals extracted, which CATL will turn into fresh battery cathode material – a move aimed at slashing lifecycle emissions and waste. Likewise, BMW partnered with U.S.-based recycler Redwood Materials to retrieve lithium, cobalt and nickel from old battery packs and feed those back into BMW’s supply chain. These collaborations not only demonstrate corporate accountability but also secure a secondary supply of critical minerals with far less environmental impact.
Established recycling companies are scaling up as well. Li-Cycle, one of the leading battery recyclers, received a major loan (around $475 million from the U.S. Department of Energy) in late 2024 to help expand its New York recycling hub. Europe’s Fortum Recycling also boosted its processing capacity for battery scrap, anticipating a wave of end-of-life EV batteries in coming years. Even mining and materials giants are investing in circularity: Glencore deepened its ties with battery recyclers (the company has been in talks to acquire a large recycler to bolster its presence in this space), and Anglo American launched an R&D partnership with China’s GEM to develop better techniques for extracting metals from spent lithium-ion cells. Meanwhile, Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, is piloting new lithium refining methods – such as direct lithium extraction from brines – to reduce water usage, energy needs and GHG emissions in producing battery-grade lithium. All of these initiatives – from responsible mining deals to recycling investments – aim to cut waste, lower carbon emissions, and ensure that the batteries powering the electric transition are built on an accountable, sustainable supply chain.
Sources: Reuters, CnEVPost, Reuters (Nov 17, 2023), Reuters (Dec 23, 2024), Umicore Press Release (Mar 2025), Redwood Materials, Reuters (Mar 19, 2025) etc.
