Circularity and lifecycle management of batteries and structural materials in the automotive industry as an opportunity for Czechia*

After three successful projects focusing on the decarbonization of the Czech automotive industry, the Green Europe team of EUROPEUM in collaboration with the Institute of Circular Economy (INCIEN) is broadening its focus and taking a more circular approach. This project will focus on better lifecycle and end-of-life management of materials used in vehicles and batteries. The collaboration will be split into two research areas.

You can read the report from the roundtable organised within the project here and here.

EUROPEUM will focus on the lifecycle and end-of-life management of EV batteries and the requirements introduced by the Regulation on Batteries and Waste Batteries and the proposed Critical Raw Materials Act, according to which EU recycling capacity for strategic raw materials should be sufficient to meet a least 25% of EU consumption of these materials by 2030.

INCIEN will focus on the major structural materials used in cars (steel, aluminium, plastics) and the requirements set out in the European Commission’s July 2023 proposal for a new End-of-life Vehicles Regulation that aims to boost environmental protection, decarbonise production and maximise recovery and circularity of these materials in the automotive value chain. Information about researchers cooperating on the project from INCIEN can be found here - Benjamin Hague and Tadeáš Rulík.

Project goals:

• Assess the state of play of lifecycle and end-of-life management in Czechia;
• Explore the potential for better lifecycle and end-of-life management in Czechia and pave the way for securing a sustainable secondary supply chain for critical raw materials and other materials used in vehicles;
• Provide recommendations for a circularity and end-of-life management roadmap for materials used in vehicles and batteries in Czechia.  

Project activities:

• Mapping stakeholders;
• Identifying needed infrastructure and approaches to establish it including the producer's  responsibility;
• Exploring ways to make recycling technologies/processes (hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy) cleaner and more sustainable;
• Exploring ways to attract investment for the establishment of end-of-life infrastructure of materials used in vehicles and batteries;
• Creating enabling conditions for circular use of resources in the automotive sector;
• Increasing awareness among stakeholders, policymakers, and citizens.

 The project is supported by the European Climate Foundation and runs until November 2024.

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* Previously "End-of-life management of the automotive industry and the opportunities for Czechia"

Tatiana Mindeková
Associate Research Fellow

Jonathan Lyons
Research Fellow

Filip Křenek
Project Coordinator and Analyst

Rebeka Hengalová
Research Fellow

Kateřina Davidová
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: EU climate and energy policy, environmental protection