{ "node": { "id": "term:recycled-content", "type": "Term", "label": "Recycled content minimum", "properties": { "id": "recycled-content", "name": "Recycled content minimum", "section": "topic-sustainability", "definition": "The EU Battery Regulation’s requirement that industrial and EV batteries declare the share of recycled cobalt, lithium, nickel and lead in their active materials, and from 2031 meet minimums of 16 % cobalt, 6 % lithium, 6 % nickel and 85 % lead, rising again in 2036.", "unit": "%", "related": [ "eu-battery-regulation", "recycling", "battery-passport", "collection-target", "virgin-material" ], "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/recycled-content/", "mentions": [ "cobalt" ] } }, "edges": [ { "id": "edge:belongsTo/term:recycled-content/topic:topic-sustainability", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "topic:topic-sustainability", "type": "belongsTo", "properties": { "sourceFile": "terms.json" } }, { "id": "edge:relatedTo/term:recycled-content/term:eu-battery-regulation", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "term:eu-battery-regulation", "type": "relatedTo", "properties": { "sourceFile": "terms.json", "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim" } }, { "id": "edge:relatedTo/term:recycled-content/term:recycling", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "term:recycling", "type": "relatedTo", "properties": { "sourceFile": "terms.json", "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim" } }, { "id": "edge:relatedTo/term:recycled-content/term:battery-passport", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "term:battery-passport", "type": "relatedTo", "properties": { "sourceFile": "terms.json", "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim" } }, { "id": "edge:relatedTo/term:recycled-content/term:collection-target", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "term:collection-target", "type": "relatedTo", "properties": { "sourceFile": "terms.json", "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim" } }, { "id": "edge:relatedTo/term:recycled-content/term:virgin-material", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "term:virgin-material", "type": "relatedTo", "properties": { "sourceFile": "terms.json", "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim" } }, { "id": "edge:mentions/recycled-content/cobalt", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "term:cobalt", "type": "mentions", "properties": { "sourceFile": "terms.json", "method": "build_glossary.mention_index + mentions", "field": "definition", "meaning": "Text mention; not a causal claim" } }, { "id": "edge:illustratedBy/term:recycled-content/visual:recycled-content", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "visual:recycled-content", "type": "illustratedBy", "properties": { "sourceFile": "visual-pages.json" } }, { "id": "edge:cites/term:recycled-content/reference:eu-batteries", "source": "term:recycled-content", "target": "reference:eu-batteries", "type": "cites", "properties": { "sourceFile": "wiki-references.json", "scope": "direct technical reference" } } ], "neighbors": [ { "id": "topic:topic-sustainability", "type": "Topic", "label": "Supply chain and regulation", "properties": { "id": "topic-sustainability", "name": "Supply chain and regulation", "lede": "Where the materials come from, what a battery’s carbon footprint is, and the rules that govern it from mine to market.", "context": "Keep boundaries, dates, geography and units.", "example": "Carbon footprints can be compared only with compatible boundaries and functional units.", "lesson_url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/fundamentals/cell-production/", "lesson_label": "Open production context" } }, { "id": "term:eu-battery-regulation", "type": "Term", "label": "EU Battery Regulation", "properties": { "id": "eu-battery-regulation", "name": "EU Battery Regulation", "aka": [ "Regulation (EU) 2023/1542" ], "section": "topic-sustainability", "definition": "The European law, in force since 2023, that governs batteries over their whole life: carbon-footprint declarations, recycled-content minimums, due diligence on raw materials, performance and durability requirements, removability, the battery passport and collection and recycling targets.", "related": [ "battery-passport", "carbon-footprint", "recycling", "due-diligence", "critical-raw-materials", "eu-battery-directive" ], "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/eu-battery-regulation/", "mentions": [ "collection-target" ] } }, { "id": "term:recycling", "type": "Term", "label": "Battery recycling", "properties": { "id": "recycling", "name": "Battery recycling", "section": "topic-recycling", "definition": "Recovering lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and aluminium from end-of-life cells and production scrap. Scrap is today’s main feedstock; vehicle returns will dominate in the 2030s, and regulation now sets minimum recovery rates.", "related": [ "black-mass", "hydrometallurgy", "pyrometallurgy", "direct-recycling", "eu-battery-regulation", "collection-target" ], "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/recycling/", "mentions": [ "cobalt", "production-scrap" ] } }, { "id": "term:battery-passport", "type": "Term", "label": "Battery passport", "properties": { "id": "battery-passport", "name": "Battery passport", "section": "topic-sustainability", "definition": "A digital record for each electric-vehicle and industrial battery, required in the EU from 2027, holding its composition, carbon footprint, due-diligence data, state of health and repair history, accessible by QR code.", "related": [ "eu-battery-regulation", "traceability", "carbon-footprint", "state-of-health", "recycled-content", "battery-pack-aadhaar-number" ], "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/battery-passport/", "mentions": [] } }, { "id": "term:collection-target", "type": "Term", "label": "Collection and recycling targets", "properties": { "id": "collection-target", "name": "Collection and recycling targets", "section": "topic-recycling", "definition": "The EU Battery Regulation’s quotas: portable batteries collected at 63 % by 2027 and 73 % by 2030, light-means-of-transport batteries at 51 % by 2028, with recycling efficiencies of 65 % for lithium-based batteries by 2025 and 70 % by 2030, and material recovery of 50 % of lithium by 2027 rising to 80 % by 2031.", "unit": "%", "related": [ "eu-battery-regulation", "recycling", "extended-producer-responsibility", "recycled-content", "recycling-efficiency", "material-recovery-target" ], "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/collection-target/", "mentions": [] } }, { "id": "term:virgin-material", "type": "Term", "label": "Virgin material", "properties": { "id": "virgin-material", "name": "Virgin material", "section": "topic-sustainability", "aka": [ "primary raw material" ], "definition": "Raw material extracted from mines or brines rather than recovered by recycling. Recycled-content rules count the share of a battery's cobalt, lithium, nickel and lead that did not come from virgin sources.", "related": [ "recycled-content", "critical-raw-materials", "recycling", "limiting-reagent" ], "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/virgin-material/", "mentions": [ "cobalt" ] } }, { "id": "term:cobalt", "type": "Term", "label": "Cobalt", "properties": { "id": "cobalt", "name": "Cobalt", "section": "topic-sustainability", "definition": "The metal that stabilises layered-oxide cathodes, mined largely in the Democratic Republic of Congo under scrutiny for working conditions. Its price and ethics have driven the industry from LCO and NMC111 towards high-nickel and cobalt-free LFP.", "related": [ "nmc", "lco", "high-nickel", "critical-raw-materials", "due-diligence" ], "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/cobalt/", "mentions": [] } }, { "id": "visual:recycled-content", "type": "Visual", "label": "Recycled content is diluted by blending", "properties": { "title": "Recycled content is diluted by blending", "summary": "A recycled cathode batch carries its recycled share into a new battery only in proportion to how much of the cathode it makes up.", "readout": "content = 0.20 × 0.90 = 18.0 %. Cobalt’s 26 % from 2036 needs at least 29 % of the cathode from this batch.", "formula": "content = s_blend × c_batch", "note": "Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 sets minima per element in the active materials of new EV, SLI and industrial batteries above 2 kWh: 16 % cobalt, 6 % lithium and 6 % nickel from 18 August 2031, then 26, 12 and 15 % from 18 August 2036. A separate Commission act sets the calculation.", "software": { "status": "reference", "label": "Reference concept", "body": "battery-core does not model recycled content. The Lemonergy closed-loop recycling study reports the recycled share of each element in a cathode batch made from a returned fleet.", "href": "../glossary/#topic-sustainability" }, "html": "
Recycled content of the new battery
Recycled content of the new batteryShare of the cathode made from the recycled batch versus Recycled content of the element (%). Recycled content; Cobalt minimum from 2036: 26 %; Nickel minimum from 2036: 15 %; Lithium minimum from 2036: 12 %. Interpretation follows the graphs.00250.25500.5750.751001Share of the cathode made fromthe recycled batchRecycled content of theelement (%)
Recycled contentCobalt minimum from 2036: 26 % (dashed)Nickel minimum from 2036: 15 %Lithium minimum from 2036: 12 %
" } }, { "id": "reference:eu-batteries", "type": "Reference", "label": "Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries", "properties": { "title": "Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries", "publisher": "European Union / EUR-Lex", "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R1542", "type": "Regulation", "scope": "Battery sustainability, information, waste management and battery passport provisions. Consult the current consolidated text and applicable implementing acts.", "year": 2023, "accessed": "2026-10-27" } } ] }