Developing the Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Supply Chain

Abstract: The demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and battery production necessitates efficient logistics for battery recycling. However, the industry currently lacks widely adopted packaging and logistics standards, resulting in efficiency losses. Existing solutions are often expensive and overly safe for most recycled batteries. Additionally, limited research on large-scale EV battery recycling has been published. Therefore, there is a need to explore the benefits, design, and conditions for a battery recycler to provide a unified packaging and logistics solution. This thesis investigates the benefits of implementing a unified packaging and logistics solution for battery recycling. A single case study is conducted, interviewing representatives from an organization involved in battery recycling. External interviews with industry experts are also conducted, and relevant literature reviewed. The analysis revolves around mapping different battery flows that a unified packaging system would handle. Five packaging design alternatives are presented, and their operational performance examined. The financial performance of each design alternative is evaluated, considering costs and comparing them to the current operations of the case company. The findings show that implementing a unified packaging solution aligned with the recycler's business strategy can lead to significant cost savings and increased willingness to pay from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The thesis provides battery recyclers with a comprehensive list of requirements for packaging solutions in European OEM flows, and an evaluation model for comparing different design alternatives. Future research could explore combining multiple packaging solutions to create a portfolio and bringing recycling process steps closer to the OEMs, reducing the complexity of packaging needs.