India, Nov. 13 -- Critical minerals are now instruments of statecraft, and so is the waste that contains them. China accounts for more than three-quarters of the world's capacity to pre-treat battery waste and 90% of the capacity to recover materials from it. The European Union reclassified black mass, the powder left when spent lithium-ion batteries and battery-factory waste are shredded, as hazardous waste in March 2025, with the stated aim of keeping it in the European economy.

Until this week, India allowed black mass generated here to be shipped abroad, even as, the commerce ministry says, domestic recycling plants ran below capacity for want of feedstock and some recyclers had to import material to meet their needs. The Centre had ...