CATL and Ellen MacArthur Foundation Collaborate for a Circular Battery Future
During the London Climate Action Week, a groundbreaking collaboration between Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation was announced. This strategic partnership aims to revolutionize the battery sector by pushing towards a circular economy that eliminates the necessity of extracting primary raw materials for battery production. This ambitious initiative sets a new path towards a future where sustainability, resilience, and economic growth go hand in hand, untethered from raw material extraction.
The Vision for a Circular Battery Economy
Since their strategic partnership began at the beginning of 2025, CATL and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have been jointly developing a plan to integrate circular economy principles throughout the entire battery value chain. This vision serves as a roadmap for further collaboration and innovation, not only for CATL but for a broader community of global stakeholders committed to redesigning the system for long-term success.
On June 26, Jiang Li, Vice President and Secretary of the Board at CATL, presented this vision at a high-level panel hosted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Panelists discussed how representatives from academia, industry, and governmental organizations could work together to achieve this ambitious goal and what is required to realize it on a large scale.
To illustrate this concept, CATL introduced a directional target, aiming for half of all new battery production to not depend on primary raw materials within the next 20 years. This long-term goal will guide our efforts in seeking circular economy models, expanding partnerships, and investing in innovations across the value chain. Jiang Li emphasized that a circular economy will open up new economic opportunities while delivering environmental and social benefits. By 2040, the global battery recycling market is projected to exceed 1.2 trillion RMB (around $165 billion), with the battery value chain capable of creating over 10 million jobs, more than half of which will be in developing countries.
Core Principles of Industry Transformation
Central to this ambitious goal are four practical principles derived from the circular economy model developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. These principles will guide the transformation throughout the entire battery value chain—from extraction and production to mobility and energy systems. They are starting points for further alignment of key stakeholders’ actions to accelerate the transition to a circular economy in the battery sector.
1. New System Approaches
The circular approach necessitates systemic change throughout the battery ecosystem. By integrating circularity at every stage of the value chain, it becomes feasible to support low-emission growth, minimize waste, and ensure a continuous flow of materials. This principle emphasizes optimizing structures and interactions within the value chain to enable more efficient and resilient resource utilization.
2. Product Redesign
Circularity begins at the design stage. Batteries should be constructed with longevity, disassembly, and reuse in mind—utilizing modular architecture and durable components. Designing for reuse and recycling ensures that products retain their value longer and can be more effectively reclaimed at the end of their lifecycle.
3. Business Model Changes
New business models are essential to decouple resource use from economic development. By transitioning from traditional ownership to sharing, service-based, or reuse models, batteries can provide greater utility and become more accessible to users. This principle supports creating economically viable pathways for developing a circular economy.
4. Material Recycling
An efficient recycling system is crucial for a circular economy. Materials must be reclaimed in ways that ensure their high value is maintained, thus increasing recycling’s share within the circular framework. This reduces reliance on primary raw materials and helps establish more sustainable, safe, and environmentally-friendly supply chains for critical materials.
Implementation Examples by CATL
Jiang Li also shared examples of how CATL is implementing these four pillars:
- - At the systemic level, CATL launched a carbon chain management system to aid in the decarbonization of the battery value chain.
- - In terms of product design, CATL has significantly extended battery life, with energy storage batteries now achieving up to 18,000 cycles, thus reducing both material demand and emissions.
- - CATL plans to deploy over 10,000 battery swap stations to improve battery efficiency and facilitate large-scale collection of used batteries.
- - For recycling, CATL operates the world’s largest battery collection network, recycling approximately 130,000 tons of used batteries in 2024 alone, recovering 17,000 tons of lithium salts.
To pilot changes under the Global Energy Circular Commitment (GECC) aimed at testing and broadening shared intentions in real-world conditions, CATL promotes the GECC—a platform launched in March. This open global initiative allows stakeholders from industry, cities, and academic circles to practically test circular economy solutions. CATL intends to work with entities across the entire value chain through this platform, exploring and sharing insights to help scale impact.
Future Prospects
This shared vision serves as a foundation for building new forms of collaboration, transparency, and systemic innovation within the global battery production segment. CATL and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation will continue to work alongside public and private sector partners to refine, expand, and implement the ideas presented here.
"A circular battery system will not be formed in a laboratory or conference room—it will be shaped through collaboration, testing, and joint efforts," stated Jiang Li. "This ambitious goal is a call to action in this direction. Achieving this goal will require global cooperation, cross-sector knowledge exchange, and open engagement across the entire value chain—all of which have long been promoted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation."