The European Commission has underlined its commitment to creating a resilient circular economy for EV battery materials with the publication of its Action Plan for the automotive sector.

The Commission will strengthen the business case for a European recycling value chain, with the aim of decreasing raw-material dependency and ensuring that EV batteries produced in the EU remain cost competitive.

Measures include:

• Financial Support for Battery Recycling Facilities: The Commission will explore financing options to accelerate growth in recycling capacities and development of advanced technologies.
• Black Mass Classification as Hazardous Waste: This decision will ban exports to non-OECD countries, ensuring more battery materials stay within Europe for recycling.
• Improved Access to Secondary Materials: Finalising the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation will boost circularity and make more high-quality recycled materials available.

Financial support for the battery value chain will include €350m of funding committed through the Horizon Europe partnership BATT4EU, €1.8bn from the Innovation Fund and a Battery Booster investment package to support EU made batteries.

By supporting the scale-up of sustainable battery material recovery, the EU is driving strategic autonomy and safeguarding the future of Europe’s automotive supply chain.

At Altilium we are proud to be at the forefront of this mission – advancing closed-loop battery recycling in the UK and beyond to provide sustainable cathode and anode materials for the EV supply chain. We look forward to working with our partners in Europe to support the transition to a cleaner, more resilient automotive industry.

Read the full announcement here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_635

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