India’s battery recycling industry must move beyond black mass

India is adopting clean technology fast, at an estimated 48% compound annual growth rate for EVs and stationary energy storage at 14% to be exact. At the core of clean energy storage is lithium ion batteries (LIB), the  components of which are nearly 100% imported by India.

With EV penetration goals set at 30% by 2030, it is essential that India secure critical minerals and its supply chain. Despite having massive potential, India’s current recycling infrastructure is mostly stalled at “pre-processing” stage, which mainly includes mechanical separation and produces an intermediate product known as black mass.

The next stage involves converting black mass into commodity products like lithium salts, nickel and cobalt compounds that can be directly reintroduced into manufacturing.

Semi-processing trap

The LiB recycling landscape has a significant capacity disconnect. Waste volumes are projected to reach 128 GWh by 2030 and the country has approximately 35 kilotonnes (kT) of mechanical shredding capacity to produce black mass. However, advanced refining capacity is limited and underutilized. Also, an estimated 80% of end-of-life battery scrap is currently handled by informal channels, leading to severe material loss.

Consequently, only about 1% (roughly 0.4 kT) of India’s battery-active materials are successfully closed-loop recycled into high-purity salts domestically. In other words, India’s recycling ecosystem is becoming efficient at concentrating critical minerals, but not yet at returning them to the materials value chain.

Black mass is not a standardized product. Its composition varies significantly depending on battery chemistry (NMC, NCA, LCO, LFP), state of degradation, and mechanical pre-processing method used. Typical black mass contains varying proportions of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, electrolyte residues, fluorinated binders and trace contaminants.

While black mass is valuable, it is an intermediate product, not a finished commodity that manufacturers can use directly. It needs further refining into salts or metals for use in manufacturing. As most recyclers produce black mass in India, it was until recently being sold to overseas refiners and India was losing strategic mineral resources while importing refined products at higher value.

This is a pattern seen globally for many years. Countries rich in natural resources exported ores, other nations captured value in refining and manufacturing. In the battery economy, black mass is effectively a mineral concentrate. Value addition begins when the mixed materials are separated, purified and converted to commodity-grade salts or other high-purity chemicals that feed gigafactories.

As India’s EV market accelerates, this becomes crucial. The batteries from the millions of EVs deployed now are a ready, reliable source of critical minerals in the future. The question is whether India will have the industrial capability to recover these materials domestically. The answer lies in expanding downstream refining capability.

Black mass contains mixed metals whose full value remains locked within the material. Refining unlocks greater value by producing commodity products that command premium prices and directly replaces imported raw materials.

More importantly, refining also contributes to strategic resilience. India currently imports all battery-grade lithium compounds and nickel and cobalt chemicals, despite higher battery demand and a push towards domestic cell manufacturing. Developing refining capability for black mass will enable the burgeoning battery manufacturing industry. Every ton of recycled battery material reduces dependence on import and strengthens supply-chain security.

It must be noted that global battery supply chains are highly concentrated. This exposes manufacturers worldwide to price volatility, trade disruptions, and geopolitical risk. Nations seeking long-term energy security are investing in domestic refining infrastructures proactively. India has also taken steps to promote critical mineral security under the landmark “National Critical Minerals Mission” (NCMM).

Mineral security

Battery recycling is actually a strategic imperative, not just waste management and requires technological sophistication of an advanced materials processing industry. Recovering battery-grade lithium, nickel or cobalt requires precise control over impurities, consistent process chemistry, stringent quality assurance and robust environmental management. For recovery of commodity products, refiners have to separate metals with similar chemical behaviour, while removing impurities to battery-grade specifications.

For industrial manufacturing lithium, nickel and cobalt often require a purity of at least 98%. Battery grade salts require purities of 99.5% to 99.9%. The refiner has to be highly technically adept. Producing manufacturing grade materials requires meeting stringent product specifications as even trace impurities can ruin a production batch. Refining technologies must also adapt to rapidly evolving battery chemistries, including nickel manganese cobalt (NMC), lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium manganese oxide (LMO), and future high-manganese systems.

This technological need creates opportunities for innovation in the country. Developing refining technologies that can deliver high recovery rates, low operating costs and reduced environmental impact will build competitive advantages. Along with collection networks, processing capacity, the industry can be competitive on process efficiency, product quality and recovery yield as well.

As India’s battery ecosystem expands, end-of-life batteries will become one of the country’s most reliable sources of critical minerals. Black mass should not be seen as the end product of recycling, rather the starting point of a strategic materials industry. It is essential that India is able to recover and reintroduce those critical minerals for its clean energy supply chains, to reduce import dependence and enable a circular battery economy.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own.

From pv magazine India