Billions of dollars are being invested to strengthen domestic battery supply chains. Much of the conversation has centered on accessing critical minerals and the raw materials needed for battery production. Those investments are important, but raw materials are only one part of the equation.
True resilience requires the ability to process those materials, manufacture components and ultimately recycle batteries within the same ecosystem. In some cases, the U.S. has access to the necessary mineral deposits but lacks sufficient mining, refining or processing capacity to convert them into battery-grade materials. As a result, materials may originate domestically, leave the country for processing, then return for use in U.S. manufacturing.
Understanding where these gaps exist is essential to strengthening the supply chain. Expanding domestic manufacturing capacity without corresponding investments elsewhere in the supply chain can simply shift dependencies rather than eliminate them. Building resilience requires a coordinated approach that strengthens each link and enables the supply chain to respond more effectively when disruptions occur.
Not all battery supply chains face the same vulnerabilities. Different chemistries rely on different raw materials, processing capabilities, components and manufacturing infrastructure, which means their exposure to a global supply disruption can vary significantly.
For some battery technologies, critical steps in the supply chain remain concentrated outside the U.S. Others benefit from a more established domestic manufacturing and recycling base. That distinction matters when companies assess how reliably a battery technology can be produced if access to foreign materials or components is constrained.
Building that capacity also takes time. Countries with established supply chains for newer battery technologies have spent decades developing manufacturing expertise and working through production challenges. Strengthening U.S. capacity will require not only building infrastructure, but finding ways to accelerate that learning curve.
The question, then, isn’t just whether the U.S. has access to the materials a battery requires. It’s whether those materials can be processed, manufactured into finished batteries and ultimately recovered for reuse within a domestic supply chain.
The lead battery industry provides a model for a mature domestic battery ecosystem, supported by established manufacturing and end-of-life recovery infrastructure.
According to Battery Council International, more than 174 million lead batteries are recycled domestically each year, delivering more than 2.2 billion pounds of lead back into the battery manufacturing supply chain.
Spent batteries provide a source of feedstock that can be processed and returned to battery manufacturing. By keeping valuable materials in circulation, this system reduces dependence on newly mined materials and creates a more reliable domestic supply of battery materials.
For emerging battery chemistries, recycling infrastructure should grow alongside manufacturing capacity so that materials can be recovered and reused as markets scale.
Domestic recycling capacity only strengthens the supply chain if materials remain in circulation. Recycling facilities need sufficient feedstock moving through their operations. Growing exports of spent batteries can remove valuable materials from the domestic supply chain that could otherwise be recycled and returned to U.S. manufacturing.
Once spent batteries leave the country, the materials recovered from them might not return to U.S. manufacturers. That leaves domestic recyclers competing for a smaller pool of feedstock and can increase the need for imported material, recreating the very foreign dependencies that recycling can help reduce.
Building a complete domestic battery ecosystem requires not just infrastructure, but confidence that demand will be there to support it. Mining, refining, component production, manufacturing and recycling facilities require significant capital and years of investment. Companies are more likely to make those commitments when they have confidence that a battery technology has a durable market.
The mature lead battery supply chain demonstrates what a complete domestic ecosystem can look like, but it also shows that these systems are built over decades. Strengthening U.S. battery resilience will require sustained investment across the entire supply chain and the market certainty needed to support it.
Jeremy Furr is senior vice president, strategic sourcing at Stryten Energy.