Automotive Business Magazine – Q2 2026 – Digital edition - Magazine - Page 34
OPI N I O N
R E TA I L
Graphite recycling
will strengthen EV
supply chains
→ John Jaddou is global director, new business development at Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials
I
n 2026, the global transport
industry’s path to net zero will
hinge on whether it can secure
the battery materials on which
electrification depends.
Transport still accounts for
roughly one-fifth of global CO2
emissions. Pressure is mounting
across every segment of mobility to
decarbonise rapidly.
In 2026, electrification is expected
to accelerate, driven by passenger
EV and hybrid adoption, as well as by
industries like construction, agriculture,
and haulage exploring lower-carbon
alternatives. This will mean an increased
dependence on lithium-ion batteries and
the materials that enable them.
One such material is graphite. As the
workhorse anode in nearly all lithium-ion
chemistries, it is indispensable to battery
performance, efficiency, and the lifespan
of the technologies enabling vehicle
decarbonisation. However, supply is
increasingly under strain. China currently
controls more than 95% of the world’s
battery-grade graphite – an imbalance
that analysts warn will become
unsustainable as demand accelerates.
By 2035, global demand is expected to
exceed supply by roughly 2.5 million tons.
This threatens the pace of global
electrification and clean energy
deployment. To maintain momentum
and reduce geopolitical exposure, the
industry must establish new, sustainable,
and diversified sources of graphite. Orbia
plans to advance graphite-recycling
infrastructure in 2026.
Policymakers, OEMs, and battery
manufacturers increasingly recognise
that traditional graphite pathways – both
mined and synthetic – cannot scale
quickly or sustainably enough.
Natural graphite production, for
example, carries heavy environmental
burdens. Synthetic graphite relies on
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AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS Q2 2026
petroleum-derived feedstocks and ultrahigh-temperature processing, making
it carbon-intensive at a time when
industries must shrink their footprints.
What’s more, most waste graphite today,
whether battery scrap or end-of-life
cells, ends up incinerated or landfilled.
Initial analysis from Orbia’s
sustainability team indicates that
regenerated graphite can cut CO2
emissions by up to 70%, offering one of
the most impactful carbon-reduction
levers. New purification, regeneration,
and refining technologies now enable
waste graphite to be converted into
high-purity, anode-grade material that
performs on par with virgin graphite.
Advances in multi-stage purification
now remove silicates, metals, and other
impurities from waste graphite with
precision, unlocking high-performance
regenerated anode material, as well
as reclaimed graphite for friction
systems, gaskets, EMI shielding, thermal
components, and conductive polymers.
As automakers face increasingly strict
domestic content rules, carbon disclosure
requirements, and battery passport
regulations, recycled graphite reduces
import dependence and enables OEMs to
participate in closed-loop partnerships
that turn waste into value.
Regenerated graphite also improves
the economics of battery recycling,
converting a cost burden into a revenuegenerating material stream.
Collaboration will be key. OEM
validation, recycler partnerships, policy
alignment, and regional manufacturing
investments are already merging to bring
these solutions from pilot lines into full
industrialisation.
The industry must embrace circular
material strategies. The next chapter
will be defined as much by responsible,
resilient material sourcing as by the
technologies that power vehicles.
