New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- India has banned exports of lithium-ion battery black mass to strengthen domestic recycling and recover critical minerals, an official statement said on Wednesday.
Black mass is a powdery material obtained from shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing waste. It contains recoverable quantities of critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese.
"DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) prohibits export of Lithium-Ion Battery Black Mass to strengthen domestic recycling and critical mineral recovery," the Commerce Ministry said.
The DGFT issued a notification in this regard on November 10.
Critical minerals are essential inputs for electric mobility, advanced chemistry cell batteries, energy storage, electronics and renewable energy.
India depends substantially on imports for several of these minerals, it added.
Recycling battery waste is among the quickest and most sustainable ways of developing a domestic supply of these resources.
While the country's capacity to recycle battery waste and refine critical minerals from it has grown considerably, it is not being fully utilised due to inadequate feedstock availability.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.