The shift to electric vehicles is driving huge demand for lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Recycling these metals has become essential for supply chains and sustainability.
For this reason, battery recycling stocks offer a unique opportunity: they sit at the intersection of green policy, materials security, and innovation.
This article highlights the seven best battery recycling stocks in 2025 with enduring business models in this space.
Each company offers a distinct approach to transforming used batteries into new resources, providing investors with an opportunity to participate in one of the most significant growth markets in clean energy.
TL;DR: Top Battery Recycling Stocks To Add
- Umicore (OTCMKTS: UMICY): Global recyclers with deep lithium-ion recovery.
- American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ: ABAT): U.S. closed-loop lithium recycler.
- RecycLiCo Battery Materials (OTCMKTS: AMYZF): Cathode-material recycler from Canada.
- Aqua Metals (NASDAQ: AQMS): Clean lead-acid recycling via AquaRefining.
- BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDF): EV giant with integrated battery recycling.
- Glencore plc (OTCMKTS: GLNCY): Commodity major expanding into battery recycling.
- Neo Battery Materials (OTCMTS: NBMFF): Innovator in silicon-anode R&D and recycling.
- Ganfeng Lithium Group ADR (OTCMKTS: GNENY): Vertically integrated lithium giant with recycling expertise.
The Battery Recycling Market Outlook
Forecasts expect the global battery recycling market to grow steadily in the decade ahead.
This growth is driven by rising environmental consciousness, the proliferation of EVs, and tightening regulations around battery disposal.
Policy initiatives amplify this opportunity. In the U.S., the Inflation Reduction Act promotes domestic supply chains.
The Department of Energy has backed recycling operations, signaling long-term support. Yet challenges remain: capital intensity, competition from Asia, and the complexity of scaling new technology mean careful stock selection remains critical.
8 Best Battery Recycling Stocks
Umicore Group (OTCMKTS: UMICY)
Overview
Umicore operates a highly advanced battery recycling system renowned for its circular excellence.
With a capacity to recycle approximately 7,000 metric tons of lithium‑ion batteries annually, equivalent to around 20,000 electric vehicle batteries, it stands as one of the largest industrial-scale facilities worldwide.
Its proprietary pyro‑hydro recovery process delivers exceptionally high yields: over 95% for metals like cobalt, copper, and nickel, and over 80% for lithium.
This closed-loop model not only recovers valuable materials but also supports sustainable resource efficiency, embodying Umicore’s long-standing leadership in the green metals space.
Growth Catalysts
A major strength lies in the company’s finely tuned, industry-leading refining ecosystem.
Its pyro‑hydro technology, honed over decades, enables precise extraction of up to 17 different metals, making it a backbone of the industry’s efforts toward circularity.
Umicore’s roadmap to 2028 reinforces this foundation with focused investment in capital discipline, performance upgrades, and strategic partnerships, all aligned to maximize returns from its core businesses while gradually building value in battery materials.
Targeted efficiencies have already yielded over €50 million, and the company anticipates robust free cash flow from recycling in the years ahead.
Risks
Some planned expansions faced delays, especially a large-scale recycling plant in Europe, now pushed to beyond 2032, reflecting caution amid shifting market dynamics and EV growth pacing.
This highlights the need to balance ambition with prudence.
Additionally, complex EU regulations around waste transportation and shipment can present logistical obstacles, potentially slowing operations or increasing costs.
Conclusion
Umicore remains a stalwart in sustainable metal recovery, grounded in decades of technical know-how and a strong performance culture.
Its refined recycling operations deliver both environmental and operational advantages.
While expansion plans may be slower than initially envisioned, the strategic emphasis on efficiency, partnerships, and value recovery provides a sturdy and forward-looking foundation.
This makes Umicore a standout choice for long-term investors looking for maturity and innovation in the battery recycling arena.
American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ: ABAT)
Overview
This U.S.-based innovator has built a unique approach to battery recycling and materials supply.
Its proprietary system deconstructs batteries in a modular way, gently separating cells to safely extract key elements like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese.
All this happens without high-temperature smelting, preserving water, avoiding pollution, and delivering recycled elements pure and ready for reuse in battery manufacturing.
The company also integrates primary resource development in Nevada, making it a rare vertically integrated recycler and producer.
Growth Catalysts
The real edge comes from its first commercial-scale recycling plant in Nevada, capable of processing around 20,000 metric tons of battery feedstock annually.
That facility now runs full-time, boosting throughput steadily.
The company earned praise in 2025 as a top recycling innovator and is backed by a substantial grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a second, much larger facility capable of handling five times the capacity.
Additional tax credits help reduce capital costs, and strategic collaborations with BASF and leading energy labs are creating a truly circular North American battery supply chain.
These moves position it to meet rising demand from EV and energy storage sectors for domestically sourced recycled materials.
Risks
Scaling remains the main obstacle. Transitioning from a single recycling plant to a larger operation demands flawless execution.
Regulatory hurdles, rising capital needs, and competition from more established global players could slow momentum.
The success of its integrated model also depends on forming dependable partnerships for feedstock supply and offtake agreements.
If technical or logistical setbacks emerge, they may delay the broader rollout.
Conclusion
Here’s a company anchored in smart design, from modular battery deconstruction to dual recycling and extraction pipelines.
It ticks several boxes for long-term thematic investors in sustainable minerals.
That said, the real test lies in how quickly it can scale and integrate across the supply chain.
If it pulls it off, it’s got the potential to become a cornerstone in America’s future battery materials ecosystem.
Aqua Metals (NASDAQ: AQMS)
Overview
Aqua Metals stands out with its groundbreaking AquaRefining™ process, an eco-conscious method using electricity instead of smelting or harsh chemicals to extract high-purity metals from spent lithium-ion batteries.
This process operates on a closed-loop, regenerative hydrometallurgy system, where the electrolyte is reused rather than discarded, cutting waste dramatically and aligning with sustainable recycling principles.
Their Reno, Nevada pilot has demonstrated impressive performance, recovering lithium, cobalt, nickel, and more with minimal environmental impact.
Growth Catalysts
One of the most exciting strengths lies in Aqua Metals’ Li AquaRefining pilot.
Running continuously for over a year, it’s achieved more than 99% recovery rates for critical metals, with around 83% lower CO₂ emissions compared to conventional hydrometallurgy.
In 2025, they hit a milestone by producing best-in-class low-fluorine lithium carbonate, appealing to cathode makers demanding high purity.
Meanwhile, their Sierra ARC facility is set for a significant scale-up, designed to handle thousands of tons of black mass annually, representing a tangible path toward commercialized operations.
Risks
Patented technology alone doesn’t guarantee success. Continued progress depends on securing sufficient financing for full-scale deployment.
Building and commissioning the Sierra ARC facility will require careful execution, both operationally and logistically.
While the pilot showcases technical prowess, it’s a significant leap to transition this into a fully operational, revenue-generating facility.
Conclusion
Aqua Metals leads with a truly next-generation recycling process that is clean, sustainable, and remarkably effective.
Its pilot’s consistent performance and strategic push toward scalable facilities make this company a compelling name in the U.S. recycling narrative.
Investors should keep an eye on its ability to translate technical wins into operational scalability and long-term partnerships.
BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDF)
Overview
BYD is more than an EV automaker; it’s a full-cycle battery innovator.
From manufacturing advanced Blade batteries to powering buses, cars, and energy storage systems, its operations span design, production, and now recycling.
With a global footprint and deep vertical integration, BYD is quietly building an end-to-end ecosystem that recovers and repurposes materials from its own used packs, a rare example of circular strategy in the EV world.
Growth Catalysts
Its recycling strategy stands out for its strategic partnerships with certified recyclers in North America and China.
This ensures every end-of-life battery undergoes careful capacity testing, safe disassembly, and material recovery, all mapped into reuse channels.
Another important boost comes from its partnership with one of the world’s largest mining companies, crafting heavy-equipment battery solutions and exploring recycling at scale in extreme industrial contexts.
These moves signal how intrinsic recycling is becoming to BYD’s long-term industrial vision.
Risks
Circular manufacturing sounds ideal, but execution matters.
Recycling depends on systematically collecting used batteries, navigating cross-border logistics, and guaranteeing quality in recovered materials.
Without consistent volumes and regulatory clarity, the model could become a logistical burden.
Also, because recycling is a corner of a massive automotive business, it may get deprioritized if short-term pressures arise.
Conclusion
Few companies can boast the kind of full-stack control—from raw materials, through electric power delivery, to recycling, that BYD offers.
Its recycling efforts feel like a natural extension of its larger strategy, not an afterthought.
For long-term thinkers, it’s a powerful demonstration that sustainability and scale can go hand in hand if managed with precision and purpose.
Glencore plc (OTCMKTS: GLNCY)
Overview
When it comes to metals recycling, this commodity giant has quietly led the charge for decades.
Its facilities, especially in Canada, handle complex inputs, from aerospace super alloy scrap to lithium-ion batteries, making Glencore a foundational player in closing manufacturing loops.
With deep recycling roots in copper and precious metals, its push into lithium-ion material recovery reflects a natural evolution into sustainable supply chains.
Growth Catalysts
A meaningful leap came when it acquired Li-Cycle’s assets in 2025.
That includes multiple processing sites and the intellectual property behind an efficient “spoke-and-hub” model of black mass extraction and refining.
Now branded under a dedicated battery recycling arm, Glencore aims to combine its global logistics, financing strength, and metallurgical know-how to restart stalled projects, especially a hub in Rochester, unlocking scale that smaller players simply couldn’t pursue on their own.
Beyond lithium-ion recycling, its decades of refining experience mean it can handle everything from electronics scrap to urban mining outputs.
By designing products for future recyclability and sourcing scrap globally, it’s also positioning itself for massive demand shifts, especially in copper.
This long historical footprint gives the company both credibility and resilience in the transition to greener metals.
Risks
But expansive reach doesn’t always equate to seamless execution.
Transforming acquired assets into long-term recycling hubs requires skilled project management and regulatory expertise, particularly in sensitive industrial zones.
Leadership recently shifted, and that signals a pivot in strategy.
The company must now prove that recycling isn’t just a nice-to-have, but a focused growth pillar aligned with its broader sustainability plans.
Integration of new technologies, balancing financing demands, and securing steady volumes of battery waste are all critical.
Without those, even a behemoth like this risks underdelivering on what’s being called “circular ambition.”
Conclusion
With its deep expertise in metals, global scale, and newly acquired recycling capabilities, Glencore is betting on itself to reshape how critical metals are recovered and reused.
The play will appeal to investors interested in sustainable supply chains backed by established institutional clout.
But success hinges on forging iron-clad project delivery and operational discipline across a sprawling, newly merged recycling enterprise.
Neo Battery Materials (OTCMKTS: NBMFF)
Overview
Neo Battery Materials is a nimble, innovation-driven Canadian company creating silicon-anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Its standout feature is a one-step nanocoating process called NBMSiDE®, designed to make batteries charge faster and last longer than with standard graphite anodes.
This single-step method works efficiently in lower-cost production systems, helping position Neo as a candidate for large-scale suppliers in EVs and energy storage.
Growth Catalysts
The company has kept a steady drumbeat of progress through 2025. It secured land in Windsor, Ontario, to set up Canada’s first commercial silicon-anode plant.
The facility is poised to move into pilot-scale production, serving as a bridge to industrial deployment.
Neo has also built essential automation muscle by collaborating with a global automation firm to prepare operations for scale.
On the innovation front, it developed its P-300N prototype, which boasts class-leading capacity retention and efficiency north of 99%, signaling robust performance potential.
That technical leap is reinforced through collaborations with both university researchers and silicon recyclers, aimed at integrating recycled silicon and fostering circularity.
Associated patents and partnerships backlink this progress with strategic intent.
Risks
Startups frequently hit turbulence on the way to commercial success, and Neo is no exception.
Moving from laboratory breakthroughs to mass production is often where the greatest challenges emerge, across quality control, consistent throughput, and cost discipline.
Guaranteeing a steady supply of recycled silicon will be another hurdle, despite alliances with solar recyclers and material partners.
Success depends on keeping partners engaged and maintaining execution agility, especially as each prototype advancement brings differing technical and logistical demands.
Conclusion
Neo Battery Materials personifies the “innovation meets ambition” archetype in next-generation battery materials.
Its silicon-anode technology and automation roadmap offer real promise in the race for higher energy density and faster charging batteries.
For long-term investors focused on cutting-edge battery development, Neo presents a compelling story, but one that leans heavily on flawless execution and deployment.
Ganfeng Lithium Group ADR (OTCMKTS: GNENY)
Overview
Ganfeng Lithium blends scale with sustainability, a lithium powerhouse that builds and recycles.
The company controls the entire journey of lithium: it digs it up, refines compounds, makes batteries, and now recovers materials when those batteries retire.
That vertical integration, stretching from mines to recycling lines, gives it a real edge in securing supply, conserving resources, and operating with purpose.
Growth Catalysts
A compelling strength lies in its proven technology and expanding footprint.
Ganfeng’s recycling network already handles tens of thousands of tons annually, harvesting lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese from diverse battery types, including EV, energy storage, and consumer electronics.
Their process captures lithium at over 90% efficiency and achieves even higher rates for nickel and cobalt, a technical feat few peers can match.
On the sustainability front, investors still holding its ADR benefit from Ganfeng’s increasingly disciplined environmental approach, earning a top-tier ESG rating for emission reduction, water conservation, and governance.
Sustainability is baked into its operations, not an afterthought. Plus, its global mining and refining operations around the world, Argentina, Mali, Mexico, and beyond, underpin a resource base that’s both deep and diversified.
Risks
This breadth brings exposure to geopolitical and regulatory pressures.
As a China-based conglomerate with global assets, Ganfeng may face scrutiny or supply disruptions depending on shifting trade policies or local rules in foreign territories.
While owning the recycling loop is advantageous, such wide-ranging operations require consistent execution across different regions and regulatory environments, which isn’t always easy.
Finally, because recycling isn’t the sole strategy, it supports a lithium chemical and battery empire, and investor clarity may blur between core mining profit versus recycling contributions.
Conclusion
This isn’t just a recycler, it’s one of the world’s largest lithium authorities, weaving together raw materials, downstream products, and recycling into a cohesive chain.
That makes Ganfeng a rare hybrid for investors who want scale and green-minded exposure.
Just keep in mind: the company plays in many domains, and someday soon, regulatory shifts or trade dynamics may influence how cleanly its recycling arm shines through, all part of the complexity of backing a multi-faceted leader.
Are Battery Recycling Stocks a Good Investment?
The idea of recycling batteries is easy to get behind. Old packs from electric cars, laptops, and phones are full of valuable metals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt.
Instead of mining new materials, recycling recovers them for reuse, saving money and cutting environmental damage. It feels like the perfect mix of sustainability and smart business.
But when you step back and look at these companies as investments, the picture is more complicated.
On the positive side, the long-term demand story is undeniable. Global sales of electric vehicles are climbing every year, and by the early 2030s, millions of today’s batteries will reach the end of their life.
That means a steady stream of raw material for recyclers, backed by strong policy support in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Governments want local supply chains, and companies that can deliver high-purity recycled materials will have a seat at the table.
The flip side is that many recycling firms are still young. Scaling up from pilot plants to commercial facilities is expensive and full of risk.
Even those with working technology face the challenge of securing steady supply contracts and building out logistics networks.
Some will thrive, others may stumble or get absorbed by larger players.
For investors, this means battery recycling stocks are best viewed as long-term, high-conviction themes rather than short-term bets.
They offer exposure to one of the most critical pieces of the clean energy puzzle, but patience, diversification, and careful stock selection are essential.
Risks in Battery Recycling Investments
The promise of battery recycling is compelling, but no investment theme comes without its share of uncertainty.
For investors, understanding the risks is just as important as seeing the opportunity.
This sector has enormous potential, but it also sits at the crossroads of technology, policy, and commodities, three areas known for volatility.
Let’s break down the main risks worth keeping in mind.
Policy Dependence and Regulation
Much of the momentum behind battery recycling comes from government incentives and mandates.
The U.S. Department of Energy has issued conditional loans and grants, while the European Union continues to strengthen its recycling targets.
While this creates strong tailwinds, it also introduces a reliance on political will.
A shift in policy priorities, budget cuts, or regulatory bottlenecks could slow progress or increase compliance costs for recyclers.
This makes it crucial to follow not just company news, but also developments in Washington, Brussels, and Beijing.
Technology and Scale Challenges
Many recycling companies showcase impressive pilot results, boasting recovery rates of 90% or more.
But moving from a small test facility to a full-scale operation is where most stumble. Scaling requires not just money, but also engineering precision and a reliable stream of batteries to process.
Even well-capitalized players can face setbacks in construction, permitting, or supply chain integration. For smaller firms, one failed ramp-up could be a make-or-break moment.
Commodity Price Volatility
The economics of recycling depend heavily on the value of recovered metals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt.
If prices for these metals fall sharply, as they have in past cycles, the revenue potential for recyclers shrinks.
Conversely, if prices spike, demand for recycled material can surge, but costs and competition may also increase.
This cyclical nature adds another layer of unpredictability for investors who prefer steady cash flow businesses.
Competition and Consolidation
The sector is attracting a growing mix of startups, established recyclers, and even mining giants.
As competition heats up, weaker firms may struggle to differentiate themselves. Larger players with deeper pockets could buy out promising technologies, leaving retail investors holding shares in companies that no longer exist independently.
Consolidation isn’t necessarily bad, as it can validate the industry, but it does raise questions about which names will survive long enough to reward shareholders.
FAQs
Which Battery Recycling Stock Has the Strongest Long-Term Growth Case?
Established players like Umicore offer proven scale and technology, while younger firms like ABTC offer high upside if they execute.
What Battery Company Does Warren Buffett Own?
Warren Buffett owns shares in the Chinese electric car and battery company BYD. He’s owned shares in the company since 2008.
What Battery Company Is Backed By Bill Gates?
Form Energy Inc is currently backed by Bill Gates’ breakthrough energy ventures. The company plans to build a $760 million factory in West Virginia following Joe Biden’s green energy bill.
Is Lithium-Ion Recycling More Promising Than Lead-Acid?
Lithium-ion recycling plays into the EV trend and supply chain concerns; lead-acid recycling remains important but may be less attractive long term.
Conclusion
Battery recycling is no longer a “nice to have.”
It’s a critical industry in securing raw material supply, fighting environmental impact, and sustaining the EV revolution.
The nine best battery recycling stocks profiled offer diverse pathways: pure-tech plays, integrated recyclers, and commodity giants dipping their toes into this vital sector.
Choose exposure based on your investment timeline, established recyclers for stability, mid-stage players for thematic growth, and speculative innovators for potential big leaps.
Either way, this is an industry built on materials, policy, and sustainability, and it’s here to stay.
Tags:
