The current global race isn’t just about making batteries; it’s about who controls the critical minerals inside of them. As demand for batteries—from data centers, defense, transportation, consumer devices, and energy storage—and the valuable lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese inside them continues to grow, the United States is at a pivotal point.
By taking a holistic approach to localizing our supply chains, we can reduce our dependency on countries like China, strengthen our national security, and build energy security. Otherwise, we will be subject to geopolitical disruptions, continue to rely on foreign entities of concern, and lose out on valuable resources that can drive this economy forward.
The United States will not achieve critical mineral independence in a silo or through mining alone. Several factors must work together: domestic recycling, processing, and refinement, strategic partnerships with allied nations, and policies that support resource security. By recycling and recovering these critical minerals, we will reduce our dependence on imports, secure our supply chains, and lower the cost of consumer goods that use batteries.
China controls the battery market
China has invested billions of dollars into its battery industry to support electric vehicle (EV) adoption. This includes refining, manufacturing, and recycling the critical minerals needed to power those vehicles. And China is not just doing this with EVs—it has adopted this approach for AI infrastructure, grid reliance, and defense applications because demand for batteries is at an all-time high. Nearly two decades ago, China started investing because it recognized that whoever controlled recycling and refining of these materials would own the battery market.
This impacts battery manufacturers, automakers, investors, and everyone fighting for secure sources of materials. Every battery exported from the United States today is tomorrow’s lost opportunity.
The United States needs to reduce its reliance on China, and to accelerate energy investments, we need to understand all facets of the path forward. Here are five steps the U.S. could take to strengthen its critical mineral supply chains.
1. Stop exporting end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap that contain critical minerals
One of the most pressing obstacles facing our industry today is the export of end-of-life batteries and gigafactory scrap to overseas processors. Large volumes of lithium-ion batteries, which contain critical minerals we are trying to domestically source, are being shipped abroad rather than being recycled and processed in the U.S.
It’s often more economical to ship end-of-life batteries to countries with less stringent regulations, but when we do this those entities end up dominating the market and we may never see those critical minerals again. Every battery that leaves the country is a compounding loss in mineral value, jobs, processing infrastructure, and manufacturing feedstock that can ignite the supply for U.S. battery production.
2. Partner with allied nations
The U.S. cannot build supply chain resilience in isolation. We need to collaborate with trusted allies like Australia, Canada, Japan, and South Korea—all of whom are making significant investments in recycling, processing, and refining. When we prioritize working together, we can create diversified supply chains, allowing our domestic infrastructure to grow while increasing our global competitiveness. The ultimate goal is to build resilience through trusted partnerships.
3. Enact policies that promote recycling
The U.S. should look at programs and regulations established by other countries, including the European Union, that contribute to the battery lifecycle value chain. Many of these initiatives require the use of recovered materials in the production of new batteries.
By telling recyclers what valuable materials are in batteries, we can work towards enhancing and increasing efficiencies for end-of-life markets. Similar policies have been enacted overseas. Earlier this year Colorado became the first state in the nation to establish minimum mineral recovery rates for EV battery recycling.
4. Build circular supply chains
Battery Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws are crucial to the creation of a closed-loop battery recycling approach, and many are being enacted across the country at the state level, including Connecticut, Nebraska, and Oregon. EPR requires the producer to manage the full lifecycle of a battery, including at the end-of-life to recover valuable critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt that can be reintroduced back to the domestic supply. This creates a framework to identify where these batteries will go at end-of-life and ensures they do not end up in foreign entities of concern or a landfill.
5. Continue to make strategic investments
The United States should continue making investments in domestic battery recycling, resource recovery, and domestic refinement. The Department of Energy has invested billions of dollars in the form of grants to battery manufacturers, recyclers, processors, and refiners that are part of the energy transition.
Even with these significant investments and advancements in legislation, there is still more work to be done to compete on a worldwide scale.
Final thoughts
Batteries contain extremely valuable critical minerals that we’ve already spent time, energy, and money producing. Recovering these materials reduces our dangerous dependency on adversarial nations, allows us to reinvent our manufacturing capabilities, enhances national security, and positions us as a global player.
Consumer devices, AI data centers, energy storage systems, defense, and transportation all rely on batteries, and the demands are growing rapidly. The country that masters a circular battery supply chain will shape the future of the global battery and energy economy.
Battery recycling is the key piece of the puzzle to reclaiming critical minerals for the United States.
David Klanecky is CEO and president of Cirba Solutions.