Sustainability and Second Life: Integrating the circular economy into the cobalt and lithium supply chains

The fact sheet highlights how recycling cobalt and lithium from end-of-life products, particularly electric vehicle batteries, can mitigate supply shortages, reduce environmental degradation, and support Sustainable Development Goals by decoupling economic growth from finite resource consumption.

• The supply of cobalt and lithium, which are critical for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and other green energy technologies, is threatened by potential supply shortages, price volatility, and unsustainable extraction processes.
• Integrating a circular economy through recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing can address supply chain vulnerabilities. Specifically, approximately 1.2 million electric vehicle batteries are projected to reach the end of their first-life by 2030.
• Mineral recycling supports several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by reducing waste and chemical mismanagement, stabilizing the supply of materials for climate mitigation technologies, and fostering industrial innovation for resource-use efficiency.
• Increasing the recycling of cobalt and lithium can improve socioeconomic outcomes by creating more sustainable jobs than waste disposal operations and reducing the pressure on conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRAs) associated with mining.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2019). Sustainability and Second Life: Integrating the circular economy into the cobalt and lithium supply chains. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sustainability-second-life-brochure.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Sustainability and Second Life: Integrating the circular economy into the cobalt and lithium supply chains. 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sustainability-second-life-brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Sustainability and Second Life: Integrating the circular economy into the cobalt and lithium supply chains |date=27 March 2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sustainability-second-life-brochure.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2019sustainability, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Sustainability and Second Life: Integrating the circular economy into the cobalt and lithium supply chains}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sustainability-second-life-brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }