13 · Transition · Updated 13 July 2026

Recycling and Secondary Supply

The map separates battery, copper, aluminium, steel and other recycling systems because their feedstocks, processes and recovered products differ.

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Coverage: 20 selected operating or developing facilities.
Evidence period: Status reviewed to July 2026

≈30%Potential reduction in new mining investment needs by 2040IEA estimate under stronger recycling deployment.International Energy Agency

≈80%Average greenhouse-gas reduction for recycled energy-transition mineralsIEA comparison with primary production.International Energy Agency

5Material-stream groupsBattery, copper/precious, aluminium, steel and other metals.Industrial Atlas research team

2Status classesOperating and developing facilities remain separate.Industrial Atlas research team

A recycling plant cannot run without a feedstock system

Collection, transport, sorting and legal movement of waste determine usable feedstock. Nominal plant capacity can therefore exceed available material, especially before large volumes of end-of-life EV batteries return. International Energy Agency

Manufacturing scrap and end-of-life products are shown as different feedstock phases where evidence allows. International Energy Agency and European Patent Office

Processes recover different material sets

Mechanical preprocessing, pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy recover different products and require different downstream refining. A site is not labelled complete circular supply simply because it accepts batteries. International Energy Agency

Copper and precious-metals complexes can process complex residues but are not equivalent to dedicated battery-material recovery. Metals and battery recycling operators

Secondary supply is connected back to manufacturing

Battery and metals recycling sites are linked to nearby manufacturing or refining chapters where a documented regional system exists. Industrial Atlas research team

This makes it possible to distinguish local loop closure from export of black mass, scrap or intermediate products. International Energy Agency

Recycling reduces exposure but does not remove primary supply

Rapidly growing material demand means secondary supply expands from a small stock of available end-of-life products. Recycling can reduce primary requirements materially, but it cannot immediately replace mines and refineries. International Energy Agency International Energy Agency

The chapter avoids presenting future recycling potential as current recovered output. Industrial Atlas research team

Evidence table

Current comparison

Stream	Typical feedstock	Principal evidence issue
Battery materials	Manufacturing scrap and end-of-life cells	Feedstock timing and chemistry mix
Copper / precious metals	Electronic scrap and complex residues	Recovery yield and downstream refining
Aluminium	Post-consumer and process scrap	Alloy sorting and contamination
Steel scrap	Obsolete and prompt scrap	Quality, residuals and collection
Lead / other metals	Batteries and industrial residues	Environmental controls and informal flows

Source register

Documents and datasets

Recycling of Critical MineralsInternational Energy Agency · 2024-11-18

Recycling potential, emissions benefits, feedstock timing and policy requirements for critical minerals.

Current systems with outlook to 2050 · IEA publication terms; cited findings and source links.

Battery CircularityInternational Energy Agency and European Patent Office · 2026-04-29

Innovation trends and evidence on battery recycling technologies and circularity.

Patent and technology evidence through latest available years · Publication terms; cited findings and source links.

Official recycling operator pagesMetals and battery recycling operators · 2026-07-13

Cross-checking public locations, process focus and operating or developing status.

Most recent public disclosure per site · Source-specific; factual references only.