At IAA 2025, CATL supported the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) in convening a high-level forum that brings together executives from BASF, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, the European Battery Alliance, the Global Battery Alliance, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, and Xynteo, alongside over 100 cross-sector representatives, to discuss pathways for achieving circularity across the entire battery value chain and advancing policy and financial collaboration to scale the circular economy.
The event, held at the opening of one of the world’s leading automotive shows, highlighted circularity as a key theme for the industry, reflecting growing recognition that sustainable mobility depends on closing the loop across battery design, manufacturing, reuse, second-life applications, and recycling. CATL contributed insights from its Global Energy Circularity Commitment (GECC) initiative, sharing practical lessons from its global operations and partnerships.
Built for Circularity: Design, Manufacture, and Infrastructure for Batteries
The first discussion explored how circularity can be embedded from the earliest stages of battery development, from design and manufacturing to the supporting infrastructure. Panelists highlighted the importance of digital traceability, material transparency, and collaborative industrial practices as key enablers for a truly circular battery ecosystem.
Jiang Li, Vice President and Board Secretary of CATL, emphasized both the challenge and the opportunity ahead:
“To make circularity real at scale, the industry needs clear standards and aligned policy and financial frameworks. With more partners joining us, we are working together to build an ecosystem that makes batteries more resilient, secure, and sustainable for the decades ahead.”
Daniel Schönfelder, President, Battery Materials at BASF, spoke to the role of sustainable cathode materials and industrial collaboration; Jens Rubi, Senior Manager, Head of Circularity at Mercedes-Benz, highlighted embedding circularity into OEM strategies; and Oliver Ganser, VP of Digitalisation at BMW, discussed leveraging Catena-X, the BMW-led cross-industry digital platform for automotive data exchange, to ensure supply chain transparency and traceability.
The discussion underscored that building a circular battery ecosystem requires coordinated action across manufacturers, suppliers, and technology partners, and that collaboration at every stage of the value chain is essential to make circularity scalable and practical.
From Money to Mandates: Scaling Circular Batteries with Smart Policy and Finance
The second discussion focused on the levers needed to scale circularity across the global battery ecosystem, emphasizing policy frameworks, financing mechanisms, and standardized approaches. Panelists explored how regulatory alignment, investor confidence, and tools such as the Battery Passport can create transparent and comparable metrics across jurisdictions, enabling practical, large-scale implementation of circular practices.
Emma Nerenheim, Managing Director of the European Battery Alliance, highlighted the urgency of coordinated action:
“We’re talking so much about collaboration now. I want to say that the word is consolidation. It’s not collaboration. It is that we have to decide that we need to do this. It’s incredibly difficult to understand how this question is going to work out (for the recyclers)- So consolidate now.”
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