Understanding Key Factors Required for Developing a Circular Business Model for End-of-life Electric Vehicle Lithium Batteries in Australia

The transition to electric mobility in the road transportation sector has led to an increase in the adoption of lithium batteries. Due to this adoption, electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion battery (LiB) waste is an emerging concern. Moreover, if disposed of to landfill, LiBs pose a threat to the environment and on human health. Research has shown end of life (EOL) EV LiBs contain residual capacity and valuable materials. To avail this value and mitigate the adverse disposal to landfill, circular economy (CE) principles have been considered and proposed. Consequently, circular business models (CBMs) act as a tool to implement CE principles. The literature review revealed a lack of research on the development of CBMs in the Australian context. Hence, this research aims to identify the key factors required to develop a CBM for EOL EV LiBs in Australia. To achieve this objective, a qualitative methodology was adopted following an inductive based approach and semi – structured interviews were selected as a method of data collection. A total of 19 interviews involving 22 participants were conducted and participants were categorised based on stakeholder groups identified through the literature review. The interview data was validated using data triangulation, and thereafter, a thematic analysis was used to develop six major themes from the interview data. As a subset of these themes, several findings emerged focusing on the scenario of EOL EV LiBs in Australia and identifying context-specific drivers and barriers to develop a CBM. Of note, a major theme identified was that repurposing of EV LiBs faces greater challenges than recycling in Australia. Additionally, the influence of federal and state-based policies play an important role in the development of CBMs in Australia. A noteworthy finding from this study highlights drivers and barriers compared to the literature review vary due to dependence on overseas nations and presence of unknown variables due to a smaller market scenario. Overall, the major considerations for stakeholders to adopt a comprehensive view on the development of CBMs relies closely on the influence of government regulations and collaboration between government, industry, and academic institutions. As such, strategic interventions such as ‘stewardship schemes’ and ‘pilot initiatives’, ‘vertical integration’, ‘leasing models’ and ‘co-locating pre-processing facilities’ were proposed using a process flow diagram which represent key factors required to develop a CBM for EOL EV LiBs in Australia. These key factors enable stakeholders to gain a deeper understanding of the Australian context and consequently implement CBMs that create value adding opportunities.