By Kenza Sara Elazkem (GAIA Africa’s Movement Building Program Manager)
Leading to World Cities Day on October 31, 2024, The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Africa held a social media campaign focused on the crucial topic of Electric Vehicle (EV) Batteries. As the shift towards electric vehicles accelerates, the campaign aimed to tackle the life-cycle challenges of EV batteries and sustainability issues associated with the materials used in their manufacturing. Batteries are also crucial to harnessing the abundant energy from renewable sources like wind and solar, ultimately helping to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. However, as with any energy system, they present their own set of challenges and impacts. With rapidly evolving battery technologies and the push for electrified transportation means, it is imperative to address urbanisation, waste and pollution concerns of EV batteries.
In the last few months, GAIA has published a series of 8 papers bringing about essential information to the public about EV batteries. The series starts by explaining the technical aspect of how an EV battery is made, what materials are used in the manufacturing process and what happens at the end of life (EoL) of these batteries. It then explores the issues with the disassembly process of batteries at their EoL before moving to talk about the right to repair of these batteries. The right to repair is vital to advocate for better design and conception of these batteries so that they can be repaired, reused in other EVs and/or repurposed for other uses such as stationary energy storage.
In this series, GAIA also recommends a battery passport, a digital twin to each manufactured battery storing information including the battery’s label, manufacturing history and origin of its materials, battery chemistry, state of health, use history, safe handling and end-of-life (EoL) management. This would enable repair, reuse and repurposing of the battery.
On a GAIA Africa podcast episode, Kenza Sara Elazkem, GAIA Africa’s Movement Building Program Manager and leader of the Batteries work in Africa, emphasised the need for a comprehensive approach not to fall in a predicament later. She highlighted the importance of addressing the environmental and social impacts of EV battery production, considering policy measures for ethical sourcing and recycling, and advancing GAIA’s vision for sustainable transportation solutions across the continent.
“As a continent, Africa is projected to import about 3 million electric cars from the Global North, namely Europe, Japan and the United States by 2050 according to UNEP’s Electric Mobility Programme. There are a few things to take into consideration here: First, in building and expanding our cities, importing countries need to build charging infrastructure for these vehicles. Second, all of these cars have different charging systems requiring different charging stations. Third, where the electric grid does not cover the whole territory, EV batteries can be repurposed to support mini-grids if designed to do so. Last but not least, we need to be very careful not to fall into another cycle of Waste Colonialism where the Global North dumps batteries that are not made to be reused and/or repurposed on our continent,” said Kenza Sara Elazkem.
Moreover, it is now time for the battery industry to adopt zero waste solutions. Environmental justice and end-of-life considerations need to be taken into consideration by driving innovation that supports true circularity and a just transition. When it comes to zero waste and as we reflect on the World Cities Day, we need to rethink the way cities and communities are designed and built for a sustainable, resilient, and healthy world; to build efficient, safe, accessible, and decentralized energy and transport systems that minimize demand for resources; and address the root causes of the linear use of materials through the redesign of systems and products that enable the highest and best use of materials. In doing so, reduction of global energy consumption is necessary to enable equitable, efficient, and sufficient energy production and consumption for all. Overall reduction of resource use and extraction through binding targets on material footprint or materials taxation is also needed as well as the reduction of the quantity of vehicles and batteries, and their respective sizes. Reduction of adverse impacts on human and environmental health can be achieved through minimising batteries’ ecological footprint, especially by reducing the quantity and toxicity of materials used.
GAIA advocates for innovative solutions, including redesigning batteries for longevity and advancing responsible reuse and recycling practices that uphold strong environmental justice standards to minimise waste and mitigate harm. By standing in solidarity with allies and amplifying the voices of those most affected, we can promote a just, zero waste future that respects ecological limits and community rights—where harmful practices like burning and dumping are replaced with people- and planet-centred solutions.
“Let us not forget that the minerals used to make these batteries and enable an energy transition are mined on our continent. In order for the energy transition to bring about environmental justice, different battery chemistries are needed and batteries need to be designed for recycling to alleviate the demand on rare minerals. We cannot go on with the same extraction as we did for fossil fuels. Renewables need to be done right,” said Kenza Sara Elazkem.
ENDS.