#circular economy #Switzerland #CATL #Davos #Ellen MacArthur

A Transformative Approach to Electric Vehicle Batteries

In a groundbreaking initiative, CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have released a significant whitepaper titled "Leading The Charge – Turning risk into reward with a circular economy for EV batteries and critical minerals." This document, revealed during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, Switzerland, is touted as the first comprehensive and actionable roadmap outlining circular value-chain strategies specifically for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The Significance of the Whitepaper

This whitepaper is not merely an academic endeavor; it has been developed with the input of over 30 esteemed organizations in the EV battery sector, including prominent names such as DHL, Volvo, and Jaguar Land Rover alongside various research institutions and NGOs. The report articulates an industry-informed vision, detailing how EV batteries should be designed, utilized, recovered, and reintegrated to maximize their utility while minimizing systemic risks within the entire value chain.

As CHAL's founding strategic ally in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Critical Minerals Mission, CATL has collaborated closely with the foundation and its industry partners to translate circular economy principles into life strategies grounded in real-world applications. The whitepaper supports CATL's commitment to global energy circularity, aspiring to dissociate battery production from the extraction of virgin raw materials.

Opportunities from a Circular Economy Model

The whitepaper identifies that a circular EV battery system poses substantial opportunities spanning environmental, economic, product, and broader value creation domains. Keeping batteries and their precious minerals in circulation across multiple lifecycle stages can effectively reduce the need for newly mined materials, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance the integration of renewable energy sources.

Moreover, a circular economy approach that focuses on maximizing the economic value of batteries can help streamline material efficiency, cut down on waste and operational expenses, and unveil new revenue sources. It also promotes resilience in supply chains and a more equitable distribution of economic advantages across various regions. This indicates that a systematic, circular model can successfully convert potential risks into strategic opportunities that generate value.

Key Actions to Foster a Circular EV Battery System

The report emphasizes five crucial interlinked actions required to ensure that battery materials are kept in high-value use and system resilience is fortified:
1. Design Batteries for Circularity: Prioritize sustainable design over end-of-life disposal.
2. Rethink Battery Service: Align battery service within optimized energy-mobility systems.
3. Scale Circular Business Models: Treat batteries as long-term assets.
4. Develop Circular Infrastructure: Collaboratively invest in regional circular infrastructures.
5. Enable a Circular Operating System: Utilize data, standards, and policies to foster a circular framework.

CATL’s Current Practices

CATL is already implementing these systemic actions in its operations. By detaching the battery from the vehicle, the company manages batteries as centrally coordinated assets, enhancing utilization, facilitating scheduled maintenance, and ensuring reliable returns at their end-of-life stage. Currently, CATL operates over 1,000 battery swap stations for passenger vehicles and more than 300 for commercial vehicles, supported by a growing ecosystem of over 100 partners.

This integrated system allows for high-quality recovery at scale, with CATL’s recycling operations revealing impressive recovery rates of 99.6% for nickel, cobalt, and manganese, and 96.5% for lithium. Their processing capacity is on a trajectory to expand toward 270,000 tonnes annually. In parallel, CATL is investing in alternative battery chemistries, such as sodium-ion batteries that utilize abundant materials while reducing lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 60%. This promotes circular performance across mobility, swapping, and energy storage applications.

A Call for Global Scalability

During a recent leadership briefing at the foundation, CATL's Vice Chairman and Board Secretary, Jiang Li, emphasized the significance of the report as a major step in the journey towards establishing a circular battery ecosystem. Through collaboration, circular battery systems need to be expanded across different regions, industries, and applications, adapting them to the varying market contexts.

Wen-Yu Weng, Executive Leader for Critical Minerals at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, added that as EV adoption accelerates, embracing a circular economy for batteries and critical minerals is vital for achieving affordability, resilience, and sustainable growth while mitigating environmental and social impacts.

Future Outlook

For CATL, these initiatives contribute directly to its path toward carbon neutrality, having already achieved this milestone across all its battery manufacturing facilities. The company aims to extend this goal across the entire value chain by 2035. The publication of this report signifies a crucial phase in CATL and the foundation's ongoing collaboration aimed at enhancing the circularity of critical minerals. Upcoming efforts will focus on testing these principles in real-world scenarios, essential for understanding how design, usage, life extension, collection, and recycling methods can coexist and function effectively at scale.

Through this pioneering endeavor, CATL and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation are setting a precedent for a future where EV batteries not only contribute to the economic landscape but also coalesce with ecological responsibility, turning the narrative around battery lifecycles from wasteful to regenerative.