Identifying the social impacts of battery supply chain must necessarily include all life cycle phases, such as the extraction and processing of raw materials, the production of intermediates, the production of battery cells, the assembly of the battery pack as final product and the disposal or recycling.
The major conclusions that can be retrieved are about the necessity of more research to clearly define the possible social impacts of batteries, especially objective analyses that can clearly quantify the impacts deriving from the life cycle phases and that allow comparisons among different scenarios, which can be highly variegated.
Comprehensive data of battery manufacture, usage, and disposal, as well as the social and environmental effects of the battery supply chain, is necessary to evaluate the sustainability of battery systems. However, this information is frequently confidential, and manufacturers might not provide it for competitive reasons.
While rechargeable batteries are critical for fighting the climate crisis, they are not free of environmental and social impacts. Here, we provide a robust, holistic, and accessible framework for researchers to use to assess these impacts for any battery material. The framework addresses four key issues pres
The overall social impacts along the battery life cycle encompass various dimensions that affect workers, local communities, and broader society, influenced by mining techniques and the socio-economic conditions of the countries involved.
The global battery value chain, like others within industrial manufacturing, faces significant environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges (Exhibit 3). Together with GBA members representing the entire battery value chain, McKinsey has identified 21 risks along ESG dimensions: