A sharp rise in lithium prices has helped restore the economics of used battery recycling, lifting margins for processes that extract metals from black mass. The supply structure is also shifting as first-generation electric vehicles begin reaching end-of-life, increasing the share of metals recovered from batteries after use. Regulations in the European Union and incentives under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act are supporting demand by requiring or encouraging recycled content and qualifying recycled minerals for subsidies.

IBCT, a data space specialist, said on Feb. 9 it completed a battery passport platform proof of concept with SK AX. The project followed a September memorandum of understanding on responding to a global manufacturing data ecosystem. Using IBCT’s Infirium supply chain data management SaaS, the companies validated the battery passport data structure under the EU Battery Regulation and tested battery passport data exchange between supply chains on the platform.