World Recycling Forum: The Drive Ahead

When oil prices spiked, some futurists predicted hybrid and electric vehicles would soon skyrocket in market share. While some hybrid models have met sales expectations, the appetite for electric vehicles remains limited, according to Anja Tomazic of Germany-based Adam Opel AG, a unit of General Motors.

Speaking during a session of the World Recycling Forum, held in Hong Kong in mid-November, Tomazic said of electric-only vehicles, “We don’t see 20 percent market penetration in 2020; I don’t think we’re getting ahead of slow single-digit [percentage] growth figures.” She added, “Electric vehicles are still viewed as expensive.”

As of 2011, automated technology to disassemble or recycle the lithium ion batteries that power the Opel Ampera and Insignia (or Chevrolet Volt in the United States) “is not necessary,” said Tomazic, because of the limited presence of the batteries at dismantling and auto salvage yards.

As the electric vehicles now on the road reach the end of their lives and especially if electric vehicle market share increases, Tomazic predicted that automated technology will be developed. “If it’s rewarding, someone will do it,” she remarked.

At the same session, Alfons Westgeest of the Brussels-based association Eurobat predicted that the electric vehicle market share in Europe would grow from 3 percent to 6 percent between 2011 and 2020-2025.

Regarding the alternative battery technologies and chemistries available to manufacturers, Westgeest stated, “Recycling is expected to be an important factor of consideration [and] can help guard against unpredictable price fluctuations of materials.”

Westgeest added, “The European battery industry is very dedicated to waste prevention and to recycling. Batteries are highly recyclable.”

PhD student Stavya Kosaraju of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden provided a synopsis of her research into separating and recycling the lithium found in end-of-life lithium ion batteries.

Noting that lithium supplies are being forecast by some parties to be tight, especially after 2015, she noted, “There will not be as much lithium, especially in the places where [manufacturers] want to produce batteries. It will benefit in many ways to recycle.”

The 2011 World Recycling Forum, hosted by ICM AG, was Nov. 15-18 in Hong Kong.