Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of the UK's supply of critical minerals in the next 10 years that will be met by recycling.

The Critical Minerals Strategy seeks to promote a circular economy of critical minerals in the UK. Recycling rates vary significantly for different minerals. In the case of minerals for electrical vehicle batteries, end-of-life recycling is expected to provide less than 1% of UK demand in 2030. The opportunity improves by 2040: recycling is expected to account for 10-20% of battery mineral demand for electrical vehicles.

To promote recycling and recovery, the Government is funding the £30 million National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) Programme, including a centre on technology metals. Defra expects to consult on regulations for electrical waste in 2023 and subsequently for end-of-life batteries.