Evaluating the lithium-ion battery recycling industry in an emerging economy: A multi-stakeholder and multi-criteria decision-making approach
Introduction
“The rise of electric cars could leave us with a big battery waste problem. […] Carmakers, recyclers, and tech startups are working to solve the question of how to deal with lithium-ion batteries when they wear out.” —(Gardiner, 2017)
“Recycling of Li-ion Batteries will deliver long-term sustainable value for India. […] It is also an opportunity for a re-look at the principles of sustainability and circular economy of recycling and reuse, especially of Li-ion batteries, for which the possibilities are endless in India.” — (Lobo, 2020)
As evident from the above statements, the automobile industry is pushing towards electric mobility for both personal and public modes of futuristic urban transportation. The core component driving a sustainable growth will be the residual sources of energy in other words, the battery of electric vehicles (EVs). The superior properties of Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have made them the ‘batteries of choice’ for EVs (Zeng et al., 2014). As India joined other global players such as the USA, the EU, Japan and China in a substantial inclusion of EVs in their transportation policies, the LIB market is projected to grow exponentially by 2030 (Bonu and Panigrahi, 2019; Fan et al., 2020). Such growth of LIBs, however raise the question about ‘big battery waste problem’ (Gardiner, 2017), which is caused by the toxic gases released from damaged batteries. It also leads to resource scarcity of raw materials which are required to meet the rising demand of LIBs. In their report, Juyal et al. (2018) posit the exigency of establishing a LIB recycling industry in India. However, the Indian LIB recycling industry is still in infancy and spent batteries from EVs are barely recycled.
Even at the global level, there is a recycling gap owing to various binding factors that range from operational issues to strategic-level issues (Ai and Borucki, 2019; Rahman and Afroz, 2017). Closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) implementation can help close this gap (Sasikumar and Haq, 2011). CLSC is “the design, control, and operation of a system to maximize value creation over the entire life cycle of a product with the dynamic recovery of value from different types and volumes of returns over time” (Guide and Van Wassenhove, 2009). When returned batteries flow back to the manufacturer for recycling, these recovered components can be used for new battery manufacturing, which is then brought to market; battery recycling can be considered a CLSC network. LIB recycling can be conceptualized as a consolidation of CLSC management and environmental concerns using the industrial ecology theory (Das and Posinasett, 2015; Nasir et al., 2017). This theory highlights the need to extract the maximum value out of the resources (LIB) by re-entering the products approaching the end-of-life (EoL) cycle into the supply chain—recycling being one of the essential means. Only a few studies have focused on recycling or end-of-life (EoL) management of LIBs (Mohr et al., 2020; Zeng et al., 2014). Most of these articles are confined to conceptual foundations (Ciez and Whitacre, 2019; King and Boxall, 2019) or analytical methodologies such as material flow analysis (Hao et al., 2017; Richa et al., 2014) and life cycle assessment (Raugei and Winfield, 2019; Yang et al., 2019). These are not adequate to unravel complex decision-making problems typical to the present context, more so for a developing country. In the face of a nascent policy framework for LIB recycling, it becomes vital to identify critical factors that play a role in proliferating or failing a LIB-CLSC—often manifesting as enablers or barriers, respectively.
Moreover, a developing country such as India would offer a unique set of barriers and enablers to LIB recycling that are representative of its volatile economy. Concerned stakeholders may avoid common pitfalls if they can decipher these enablers and barriers and the decision-making complexities formed from their interrelationships. Further, it is vital to evaluate the inter-relationship among the identified factors to find the degree of influence of these factors regarding their prominence and causality. However, to the best of our knowledge, the literature is silent on identifying the key barriers and enablers to LIB recycling and evaluating the inter-relationship among them from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Existing studies are thereby seen to be scrambling for answers with the following questions:
- (1)
What are the key barriers and enablers to LIB recycling?
- (2)
What are the key barriers and enablers to LIB recycling in the Indian context?
- (3)
Which criteria are the most prominent from different stakeholder perspectives?
- (4)
How can decision-makers evaluate the inter-relationship among the identified barriers and enablers?
We answer these questions by using the stakeholder theory to develop a multi-stakeholder perspective on the decision-making process involved in proliferating the LIB recycling industry. We focus on compiling and synthesizing the key barriers and enablers within the PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal) framework. Solutions for the first and second research questions are provided using a systematic literature review, which is supplemented and validated by a 3-stage Delphi study on various experts from the Indian LIB recycling industry. The targeted pool of 32 experts is grouped into three clusters – practitioners, policymakers, and academic researchers – to represent the multiple stakeholder perspective. The output of the Delphi study becomes the input data for a multiple-criteria decision-making problem defined by blending grey theory with DEMATEL (decision making trial and evaluation laboratory) technique to evaluate interdependencies among the constituting factors of the barriers and enablers.
The contributions of this study include:
- •
Identifying the critical factors that act as barriers and enablers to LIB recycling from a developing economy perspective.
- •
Understanding the use of an integrated Delphi study with grey-DEMATEL technique to evaluate interdependencies among them.
- •
Applying stakeholder theory into the PESTEL framework to incorporate heterogeneous nuances of multi-stakeholder perspectives on LIB recycling.
This paper focuses on defining the present and future landscape of LIB recycling in India by using a multi-stakeholder and multi-criteria decision-making approach, which features a hybrid Delphi study. The proposed research framework used in the study is illustrated in Fig. 1. The paper is divided into six sections, with a detailed literature review highlighting the research gaps in section 2. This is followed by a brief explanation of the methodology in section 3. Section 4 presents the data collection process for the Delphi study, along with the DEMATEL results. The multi-stakeholder implications of the findings are discussed in section 5, while section 6 concludes the paper.
Section snippets
Literature review
This section is a comprehensive review of the existing literature, which is necessary to recognize the relevant barriers and enablers to LIB recycling. Identifying and acknowledging critical literature gaps lay the groundwork in framing decisions for transitioning towards more sustainable LIB recycling practices. The significance of developing such a system in India can be realized in light of the recurrent call for more sustainable energy and emission control strategies highlighted by several
Methodology
The premise of the stakeholder theory helps lay the foundation of identifying all key stakeholders in the LIB recycling industry, considering its link with optimizing CLSC and environmental concerns (Matos and Hall, 2007). The key contribution of the stakeholder theory can be seen in terms of enabling sustainable development of this budding industry by incorporating different stakeholders into the decision-making process from the different PESTEL dimensions. As such, this theory is applied into
Research results
The proposed research framework from Fig. 1 to evaluate barriers and enablers for LIB recycling is applied and presented in this section.
Discussion
We discuss the results for barriers and enablers, where we do a comparative assessment by highlighting the essence of the similarities and dissimilarities in different stakeholder perspectives. The relationships among the barriers/enablers are plotted using a digraph for a particular case of stakeholder perspective that plots Pi values on the horizontal axis, and Ei values on the vertical axis. The two axes divide the digraph into four quadrants viz. Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, which aid in visualizing
Conclusion
With increasing adoption of EVs, the demand for LIBs is rising exponentially owing to their lightweight and high electrochemical potential. Promoting EVs as a solution for sustainable mobility brings forth the blatant question about resource management of these LIBs. Recycling of these batteries does not only solve the massive environmental costs but also provides meaningful additions into the value chain in terms of employment generation. Any delays in setting up an LIB recycling industry in
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Atanu Bhuyan: Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Methodology, Software, Investigation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. Asit Tripathy: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. R.K. Padhy: Conceptualization, Investigation, Project administration, Supervision. Amitosh Gautam: Investigation, Resources, Project administration.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
References (118)
- et al.
An integrated method to plan , structure and validate a business strategy using fuzzy DEMATEL and the balanced scorecard
Expert Syst. Appl.
(2019) - et al.
US end-of-life electric vehicle batteries: dynamic inventory modeling and spatial analysis for regional solutions
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
(2019) - et al.
The impact of ERP on supply chain management: exploratory findings from a European Delphi study
Eur. J. Oper. Res.
(2003) - et al.
A grey-based DEMATEL model for evaluating business process management critical success factors
Intern. J. Prod. Econ.
(2013) - et al.
Battery anti-aging control for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with a hierarchical optimization energy management strategy
J. Clean. Prod.
(2019) - et al.
Closed loop supply chain (CLSC): economics, modelling, management and control
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
(2017) - et al.
Critical factors to environment management in a closed loop supply chain
J. Clean. Prod.
(2020) - et al.
How will second-use of batteries affect stocks and flows in the EU? A model for traction Li-ion batteries
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
(2019) - et al.
Improving the Delphi process: lessons from social psychological research
Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change
(2011) Resources , Conservation & Recycling How much material can a recycling facility source ? A business-incentive based model for secondary material sourcing applied to waste LCD screen material
Resour. Conserv. Recycl.
(2020)
A balanced scorecard approach to establish a performance evaluation and relationship model for hot spring hotels based on a hybrid MCDM model combining DEMATEL and ANP
Int. J. Hosp. Manag.
Energy and environmental assessment of a traction lithium-ion battery pack for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
J. Clean. Prod
Addressing environmental concerns in closed loop supply chain design and planning
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
Evaluating green supplier development programs with a grey-analytical network process-based methodology
Eur. J. Oper. Res.
Pricing strategies of domestic and imported electric vehicle manufacturers and the design of government subsidy and tariff policies
Transp. Res. Part E
Developing viable, adjustable strategies for planning and management—a methodological approach
Land use policy
Life cycle , PESTLE and multi-criteria decision analysis of CCS process alternatives
J. Clean. Prod.
Urbanization, energy consumption and emissions in the Indian context A review
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
The future of automotive lithium-ion battery recycling: charting a sustainable course
Sustain. Mater. Technol.
False discovery rate control is a recommended alternative to Bonferroni-type adjustments in health studies
J. Clin. Epidemiol.
International Journal of Production Economics Supplier selection based on corporate social responsibility practices
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
Mainstream consumers driving plug-in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars : a qualitative analysis of responses and evaluations
Transp. Res. Part A
An investigation of the current status of recycling spent lithium-ion batteries from consumer electronics in China
J. Clean. Prod.
Developing pricing strategy to optimise total profits in an electric vehicle battery closed loop supply chain
J. Clean. Prod.
International Journal of Production Economics Electric vehicle battery secondary use under government subsidy : a closed-loop supply chain perspective
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
Electric vehicle battery secondary use under government subsidy: a closed-loop supply chain perspective
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
Revisiting port performance measurement : a hybrid multi- stakeholder framework for the modelling of port performance indicators
Transp. Res. Part E
Comparative analysis of port performance indicators: independency and interdependency
Transp. Res. Part A Policy Pract.
Material Fl Ow Analysis of Lithium in China 51
A multi-dimensional framework for evaluating the transit service performance
Transp. Res. Part A
Role of multiple stakeholders and the critical success factor theory for the sustainable supplier selection process
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
Lithium battery recycling in Australia: defining the status and identifying opportunities for the development of a new industry
J. Clean. Prod.
Analyzing interrelationships and prioritising the factors influencing sustainable intermodal freight transport system : a grey-DANP approach
J. Clean. Prod.
A review of state of health and remaining useful life estimation methods for lithium-ion battery in electric vehicles: challenges and recommendations
J. Clean. Prod.
Recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries in view of lithium recovery : a critical review
J. Clean. Prod.
Optimal operations of a closed-loop supply chain under a dual regulation
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
ScienceDirect ScienceDirect Symbiosis between industrial systems , utilities and public service facilities for boosting energy and resource efficiency
Energy Procedia
Electric car battery: an overview on global demand, recycling and future approaches towards sustainability
J. Environ. Manage.
Integrating sustainable development in the supply chain: the case of life cycle assessment in oil and gas and agricultural biotechnology
J. Oper. Manag.
Tourism in Kenya : an analysis of strategic issues and challenges
Tour. Manag. Perspect.
Creating functional group alternatives in integrated industrial wastewater recycling system : a case study of Toos Industrial Park
J. Clean. Prod.
Comparing linear and circular supply chains: a case study from the construction industry
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
Science of the Total Environment Estimation of automobile emissions and control strategies in India
Sci. Total Environ.
A quantitative risk analysis model with integrated deliberative Delphi platform for container shipping operational risks
Transp. Res. Part E
Computers in Industry Understanding the implications of digitisation and automation in the context of Industry 4 . 0 : a triangulation approach and elements of a research agenda for the construction industry
Comput. Ind.
Achieving customer satisfaction through product – service systems
Eur. J. Oper. Res.
Coordinating a socially responsible closed-loop supply chain with product recycling
Int. J. Prod. Econ.
A comprehensive investigation on the thermal and toxic hazards of large format lithium-ion batteries with LiFePO 4 cathode
J. Hazard. Mater.
A multicriteria decision making approach to study barriers to the adoption of autonomous vehicles
Transp. Res. Part A
Prospective LCA of the Production and EoL Recycling of a Novel Type of Li-Ion Battery for Electric Vehicles 213
Cited by (18)
Pathways for enhancing sustainable mobility in emerging markets: Cost-benefit analysis and policy recommendations for recycling of electric-vehicle batteries in Thailand
2024, Sustainable Production and ConsumptionDrivers of lithium-ion batteries recycling industry toward circular economy in industry 4.0
2023, Computers and Industrial EngineeringDetermining requirements and challenges for a sustainable and circular electric vehicle battery supply chain: A mixed-methods approach
2022, Sustainable Production and ConsumptionCitation Excerpt :As a prerequisite of many of these features and especially to enable meaningful sustainability assessments, the flow and exchange of information among actors is of particular importance (Wan et al., 2021). Information has to be aggregated from a multitude of stakeholders across various levels of a value chain to derive meaningful metrics and comparability (Küchler and Herzig, 2021; Bhuyan et al., 2022). For empirically investigating aspects such as information sharing in sustainable SCM, Seuring and Müller (2008) defined four distinct constructs: triggers, barriers, objectives, and strategies.
China's lithium supply chain: Security dynamics and policy countermeasures
2022, Resources PolicyCitation Excerpt :The concept of supply chain refers to the integration of business entities because of technological and economic associations, or temporal and spatial distributions (Beamon, 1998; Lambert and Cooper, 2000). The minerals supply chain is a complex and interactive giant system consisting of multiple agents (Bhuyan et al., 2022). It entails the exploration and implementation of a single mining project, including the mining, processing, and recovery process (Pokhrel and Dubey, 2013), as well as the total life cycle of mining projects and mineral products (Azapagic, 2004).