EV Startups Ather Energy, Altigreen, Ultraviolette Register For Recycling Waste Batteries

Several electric vehicle (EV) startups, including Ather Energy, Altigreen Propulsion Labs, Ultraviolette Automotive, and Simple Energy, have registered and received certificates for recycling battery waste, as per the information available on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) portal for battery waste management.

The development follows the Centre notifying Battery Waste Management (BWM) Rules, 2022 in August last year.

Besides the EV startups, automotive majors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, and MG Motor India, have also received certificates, as per the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) portal for battery waste management. 

The companies have been granted a five-year certificate to facilitate proper management of lithium-ion battery waste.

It is pertinent to note that the BWM Rules, under the concept of EPR, mandate producers of waste batteries, including battery importers, to collect and recycle them. All these stakeholders are responsible for ensuring the use of recovered materials from battery waste in new batteries.

Under the new rules, battery waste producers are mandated to either recycle the waste batteries themselves or send them to battery recyclers registered with relevant state pollution control boards. 

The new rules replaced Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001. 

As per the CPCB’s portal for battery waste management, a total of 1,225 battery waste producers have been granted certificates over the past few months, while the total number of received applications stands at 1,766.

On the other hand, the total number of battery recycler applications stands at 17. However, none of them have received certificates so far. These recyclers include Batx Energies, Eco Energy Regeneration, and Sungeel India Recycling.

Some of the major lithium-ion battery recycling startups, including Attero, Lohum, Ace Green Recycling, and Metastable Materials, do not figure in the list of companies which have applied for registration.

However, as per a report by The Indian Express, the registration of recyclers on CPCB’s portal for battery waste management is still in the testing phase. The board is reportedly collating stakeholder feedback on portal-related processes.

As per the report, the portal is expected to become fully operational in the coming weeks.

With the rise in the number of EVs and electronic gadgets like mobile phones, it has become imperative to focus on recycling lithium-ion batteries. This will not only benefit the environment but also support India’s homegrown lithium-ion cell manufacturing industry and bring down the cost of EVs going forward.

Speaking to Inc42 earlier, several industry experts said that though BWM Rules were a step in the right direction, there was a need for clearer regulations and processes to ensure that the norms were followed.