General Motors Launches Dedicated Battery Recycling Site

August 03, 2021

Original article published in GM Authority

General Motors has launched a website dedicated to educating the public on how to properly remove and recycle battery packs from its hybrid and electric vehicles.

The website, which has an easy-to-remember URL of recyclemybattery.com, is intended for “vehicle dismantlers who recycle automobiles at the end of their useful life,” the automaker says. The website includes information on how to disable and remove battery packs from GM hybrid and electric vehicles and how to safely store and ship them. It also includes a list of EV battery recyclers in the United States that accept used EV battery packs.

Additionally, specific battery extraction manuals are available on the site for virtually all GM electric and hybrid vehicles from the late 2000s onward. This includes older hybrids like the Saturn Vue Green Line, as well as more recent vehicles like the Chevy Bolt EV and eAssist-equipped pickup trucks.

According to the International Energy Agency, 245 million EVs will be either on public roads or in dealership inventory by 2030. Battery removal and recycling will therefore become an important part of the auto industry in the coming years, as batteries can pollute soil and lead to other environmental problems if they end up in a landfill or junkyard.

GM is hoping to be involved in the EV battery recycling process, partnering with Canadian-based battery recycling company Li-Cycle to recycle up to 100 percent of the material scrap from its battery cell manufacturing processes. The recycling process will allow GM’s Ultium Cells LLC battery subsidiary to recycle important and expensive battery materials, including cobalt, nickel, lithium, graphite, copper, manganese and aluminum. Ninety-five percent of these materials can be used in the production of new batteries or for adjacent industries, GM says.

GM has recycled 100 percent of the batteries it has received back from customers through warranty claims, trade-ins or leases since 2013. In fact, most current GM EVs are repaired with refurbished packs when they experience a battery problem – a practice that will likely continue and expand as more GM EVs hit the market in the coming years.