New publication: ‘Circular Batteries Charging the Future’

On the road to circular batteries

The launch event

During the the first day of the 2023 ‘NL-DE Battery Days’ Holland Circular Hotspot had the pleasure to host an interactive session on the immense potential of circular batteries for a future-proof society. A unique opportunity to share with a truly international crowd of battery stakeholders and value chain actors the newest publication of Holland Circular Hotspot.

The event saw brochure co-authors and Holland Circular Hotspot partners Taco Bosdijk – Rijkswaterstaat, Margriet Rouhof – TenneT, Fenna Plaisier – Natuur en Milieu, Dr. Shoshan Abrahami – TU Delft, and Stéphanie Schuitemaker – Holland Circular Hotspot, involved in insightful presentations and a lively panel discussion.

The conversations culminated in the launch of the brochure ‘Circular Batteries Charing the Future: Collaborating for a Sustainable and Resilient Value Chain’. The publication was officially presented to Jeroen Heijs, Director at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Janet Kes, Manager Batteries and Quality Assurance at ARN, and Rutger van Poppel, Programme Manager at the Battery Competence Cluster – NL.

The context

Batteries are the foundation of our modern society. From powering our phones and laptops, through starting the engine of our cars and trucks, to storing the energy we generate for later use, they enable our day-to-day lives. Although batteries have been around for decades, their strategic importance has recently experienced considerable growth. Simply put, a transition to a climate-neutral society with low-carbon electricity, transportation and logistics requires a ramp-up in battery capacity and production never seen before.

Increasing supply however comes with a multitude of environmental, socio-economic and geopolitical challenges. Batteries are mined, produced and moved across a truly global supply chain with significant negative impacts on ecosystems and local communities. Governments and businesses around the world are confronted with the need to do more with less, and to act fast and locally to ensure a resilient supply.

It is thus becoming increasingly evident that a circular economy for batteries is necessary and beneficial to face these challenges. Circularity truly represents a unique opportunity to future-proof our economy, society and environment, as the no-regret scenario for Europe.

The publication

The publication explores the current status and future potential for circularity across the battery value chain in the Netherlands and beyond. The goal to stimulate an international debate on how we can accelerate this much needed transition together, as regulators, researchers, entrepreneurs, consumers or investors.

Today’s challenges in making batteries more sustainable and circular in the long-term are multifaceted and interconnected. For these reasons, international and multistakeholder collaboration is paramount. Sharing lessons learnt, insights and knowledge is the success.

The publication features 25 Dutch best practices in the battery value chain and the Future Visions for a circular battery sector of:

BatteryNL
TenneT
The Hague Center for Strategic Studies
Natuur en Milieu
European Economic and Social Committee

This work is the result of a collaborative effort between Holland Circular Hotspot, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Dutch public institutes Rijkswaterstaat and PBL, TU Delft, ARN and Natuur en Milieu.