Enhancing ESG Practices in Lithium Battery Recycling: A Review of Current Policies and Proposed Solutions

Lithium batteries, essential for various technologies, have a recycling rate of only 1%, significantly lower than the 99% rate of lead-acid batteries and falling short of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Current Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies are flawed, with CEOs prioritizing lithium mining over recycling, disrupting the circular economy, and often being unaware of ESG's impact on stock prices and financial risks. The low recycling rate of lithium batteries poses a significant challenge to sustainability. The ESG rating system, which measures corporate practices in environmental, social, and governance areas, is crucial to stakeholders but currently inadequate in addressing the recycling issue. The prioritization of mining over recycling by CEOs further exacerbates the problem, highlighting a lack of awareness about the financial and stock price implications of poor ESG practices. Solutions are as follows: Battery passport, implementing a battery passport system to track the lifecycle of Lithium batteries and ensure proper recycling; federal funding, allocating federal funds to support recycling initiatives and infrastructure development; global CO2 emissions tax, introducing a global CO2 emissions tax to incentivize better ESG practices for lithium batteries; and Google Trends data, utilizing Google Trends data from 2004 to 2023 to validate and refine these solutions, ensuring they are aligned with public interest and awareness. These solutions aim to enhance ESG practices for Lithium batteries, promote recycling, and support the circular economy.