While Chile is seeking operators to increase its lithium production, China's CATL, the largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, announced a US$5 billion investment to build a recycling plant for this type of battery.

The company's announcement comes at a time when the industry expects the supply of battery manufacturing materials to enter a deficit market. At the same time, the industry points out that, for environmental reasons, in a few years it will become critical to have facilities for recycling electric vehicle batteries that have reached the end of their life cycle. Recycling will allow materials to be recovered for reuse in battery manufacturing.

A study by consulting firm IDTechEx estimates that the electric vehicle battery recycling market will reach a value of US$31 billion annually by 2040. According to the consulting firm, 50% of battery recycling will take place in China, the main consumer market for electric vehicles. The useful life of a lithium-ion battery in an electric vehicle is estimated at around 180,000 kilometers.