Worldwide recycling capacity for electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries reached 4.2 million metric tons in 2025, yet only 670,000 tons of batteries were discarded, indicating significant underutilization, according to KrASIA.
This gap is largely attributed to slower than anticipated EV adoption rates and a supply chain heavily concentrated in China, which impacts the volume of batteries entering recycling streams. Mobility Global highlights these factors as key challenges facing the industry.
For Japanese markets, this underuse signals both a risk and an opportunity as domestic companies consider expanding recycling infrastructure and supply chain diversification to meet future demand in the EV sector.