Closing the Loop on Thailand‘s Electric Vehicle Batteries

Thailand’s EV market is growing rapidly thanks to the government’s EV targets (30@30). The volumes of used batteries that will result from achieving these targets are substantial: forecasts indicate some 200,000 tonnes of end-of-life EV batteries will have accumulated by 2033, rising to 2.5 million tonnes by 2043. By 2035, between 25,000 and 35,000 tonnes of black mass could be available annually. To ensure that this material can be converted into battery-grade intermediate products suitable for the production of new traction batteries for the domestic market, and to reduce dependence on volatile markets for primary raw materials, key decisions on building up an EV battery value chain need to be taken within the next three years.

Proper management of the battery value chains falls within the remit of several national ministries and their subordinate agencies in Thailand. The coordination of governance structures and competent agencies is essential for the adoption of a comprehensive strategy and action plan for the recycling of traction batteries. The recently appointed EV Manufacturing Promotion Subcommittee could fulfil this role. Supported by a dedicated technical task force, it can drive the establishment of a battery recycling value chain.

Economic feasibility is one of the central challenges for investment in battery recycling. The value of materials recovered from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries is low and market revenues are insufficient to cover these costs. In addition, given the lack of return facilities for traction batteries in Thailand, most potential end-of-life batteries are currently absorbed by the local structures of the informal sector. A regulatory framework for batteries with an EPR scheme would assign clear responsibility to manufacturers and importers, finance the professional collection and treatment of batteries, and guarantee recyclers a net return, thereby making recycling a viable investment case.

Developing a technically capable workforce that can provide for safe collection, diagnostics, hydrometallurgical processing and regulatory enforcement will take longer than building the plants themselves. Once production capacity comes on stream, a sufficient number of suitably qualified workers will need to be available. The first pilot plants for black mass production should be operational by 2030, and the professional processing of black mass into battery-grade intermediate products should begin in Thailand by 2035 at the latest. Training programmes, university partnerships and applied research developed jointly by industry, universities and government are most effective when introduced and funded ahead of scaling up.

Second-life applications can extend battery lifetimes and reduce the material volumes entering the recycling stream. However, unresolved liability for second-life batteries leaves investors exposed and end users at risk, while falling prices for new batteries, particularly low-cost LFP cells, increasingly undercut the business case for repurposed ones. Setting quality standards and diagnostic criteria and clarifying liability rules in parallel with the EPR scheme, will help to ensure that the boundary between second- life applications and recycling is governed rather than being left to informal market dynamics.