India has put an immediate stop to exporting unsorted waste and scrap of primary cells, batteries, and electric accumulators that do not contain lead, cadmium or mercury, including lithium-ion battery black mass.
The goal? To keep valuable materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel in the country so they can be recycled here instead of being shipped out.
This move is part of a bigger push to boost India's own clean-energy and electric-vehicle industries.
India's battery recycling informal, 1% recycled
Even with this new ban, most battery recycling in India happens outside the formal sector, and only about 1% of old batteries actually get turned into new, usable materials.