Imagine waking up in 2040 to unusually quiet streets. By then, an estimated 60% of vehicles worldwide could be electric, cutting air pollution and noise in cities. But the shift to cleaner transport comes with a lesser-known problem – a huge rise in mining waste.
Lithium, a vital ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, leaves behind extraordinary amounts of waste. In 2023 alone, the global battery industry generated 1.8 million tonnes of lithium-related waste, almost all of it sent to landfill.
