An Export Ban Isn’t Enough to Increase Domestic EV Battery Recycling

The federal government just banned exporting "black mass" — the mineral-rich powder left over when lithium-ion batteries, including EV batteries, are recycled — for one year starting August 27, 2026. The goal is to keep more cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel in the country instead of shipping the material overseas for processing.

The problem is that the US doesn't yet have enough capacity to actually process all that black mass at home. Research estimates the country has about 7,000 metric tons of refining capacity but 65,000 metric tons of black mass to handle this year. That gap isn't expected to close until around 2030, and a one-year export ban won't fix it. In the meantime, companies that can't find a US processor may have to store the material, ask for a special exception, or send it to hazardous waste landfills instead.

None of this requires anything of you directly if you drive an EV or have a home battery system — there's no new fee or rule affecting owners. But it matters for the bigger picture of how the country plans to source battery minerals as EVs and home solar-storage batteries become more common. Without rules requiring batteries to actually be recycled and requiring recyclers to recover a high share of the minerals, much of the material in retired batteries could still go to waste rather than turning into cheaper, lower-impact supply for future batteries.