Electric cars are a daily life. Supporters of electric cars point to the financial savings and ecological benefits of their use, opponents fear the low charging range and claim that electric cars are only for the wealthiest. In the background of this debate, there exist additional legislative proposals and a scarcity of lithium, which is the essential element in electric batteries. Due to the insufficient extraction potential of the element, it is also necessary to recover lithium, which proposes Elemental Holding – the world leader in the urban mining industry.
The Polish electric car market is growing
According to data from the end of April 2023, there were a total of over 40,000 passenger and commercial all-electric vehicles (BEV) registered in Poland. For the first four months of 2023, their number increased by 71 percent. compared to the same period in 2022, according to the Electromobility Counter, launched by the Polish Automotive Industry Association and the Polish Alternative Fuels Association. The data indicate that the interest in electric cars will grow in the coming months and years. Although Polish roads, petrol stations, and car parks are increasingly suited to the needs of owners of electric cars, compared to the rest of Europe we are still far from the leaders. In January 2023, sales of new electric cars in Poland amounted to 3.3 percent of all new cars purchased, while the percentage was 14.2 in Germany and 84 percent in Norway.
Sustainable development
Poland is currently listed with the second-highest increase in the recycling rate in the European Union over the last decade. The IFC belonging to the World Bank Group, appreciating the achievements in this area of Elemental Holding, the world leader in urban mining and recovery of precious metals, decided to invest as much as USD 90 million in the company. This will enable further recycling and recovery of valuable raw materials, most of which are used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles. These are the platinum group metals – palladium, platinum and cobalt, copper, nickel, and the much-needed lithium.
A leader in the production of batteries
Poland leads in the production of Li-ion cells used in batteries for electric cars, which are the heart of these cars. Our country plays a leading role in the battery supply chain, being the second-largest producer in the world. The value of the battery sector has increased 38-fold over the last six years, from around PLN 1 billion in 2017 to over PLN 38 billion in 2022. It is estimated that by 2027 Poland will increase its production capacity and maintain its high position, significantly contributing to the ecological revolution. If we can acquire the necessary elements that are not available in our country, then Elemental Holding will play a vital role in the growth of Polish and European electromobility.
Enormous increase in demand and prices
Europe already has a problem with accessing lithium resources and is doomed to import them from Chile and Australia. The main reason for the lack of lithium, however, is not the ending resources. It’s all about the time-consuming mining process. Obtaining this element can be done by evaporating brines that are rich in it. This process can take anywhere from 12 to 30 months. Demand for lithium, which fell sharply as a result of the pandemic, is now at a very high level again. This is the result of the rapidly growing interest in electric cars. The prices of the element in just one year increased by approx. 460 percent. Therefore, there has been a growing interest in extracting lithium from electric car makers, such as Elon Musk. However, launching new mines can take years and is an expensive undertaking. It is also worth remembering that the process of obtaining lithium is a heavy burden on the environment due to high water consumption.
Recycling the raw material is the best solution
Time-consuming, high costs, low supply, and negative impact on the environment – all these factors not only destroy the assumptions about the low price of electric cars in the future but also alarm about the need to look for alternative sources of lithium. This approach is in line with the pursuit of sustainable development, as demonstrated by Elemental Holding Group and its company Elemental Strategic Metals. The company focuses its efforts on obtaining raw materials from e-waste, perfectly fitting into the closed-loop strategy. In the recycling process, Elemental Holding processes end-of-life electronics, catalysts, and printed circuit boards to recover critical raw materials, which are then reintroduced into the supply chain. Soon it will also start recovering raw materials from the batteries of scrapped electric and hybrid vehicles. Such an innovative approach to recycling is the future of both the Polish and global economy.
Elemental Holding with a new recycling plant
In Zawiercie, a lithium-ion battery recycling plant is in the last phase of construction. This strategic investment of the Elemental group, in line with the company’s assumptions, will maximally reduce all risks associated with the extraction of the element. Both its construction and the process of obtaining elements take much less time than in the case of lithium extraction using traditional methods. Elemental Holding valued the entire investment at EUR 150 million, and the investment meets all environmental standards and sustainably acquires not only lithium but also other hard-to-reach elements such as nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, and rhodium. The plant in Zawiercie will be one of the first and largest facilities of this type in Europe, of strategic importance for electromobility.
The future of the electrician market in the shadow of legislation
From 2035, only cars powered by alternative fuels will be able to be registered in the European Union. This means that brand-new internal combustion cars will disappear from Polish roads. The Government Electromobility Development Plan assumes that by the end of 2025, there will be 1 million electric vehicles in Poland. This will be followed by the construction of numerous charging stations, e.g. next to public buildings and along main routes. The European Parliament has just voted in favor of increasing this infrastructure. However, it is worth being aware that the basic problem in the discussion on the future of electromobility is running out of lithium resources. Therefore, the attention of everyone, including those in power, should primarily focus on this issue. The elemental acquisition proposed by Elemental Holding in the recycling process of e-waste may play a key role.
Ireneusz Konarski, Head of Sales Strategy & Business Development Elemental Strategic Metals