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Nobel Prize Winner Says Battery Recycling Key to Meeting Electric Car Demand

  • Japanese chemist Yoshino, two others honored this week
  • Next challenge is storing wind, solar energy, Yoshino says
Akira Yoshino holds a model of a lithium-ion battery during a press conference on Oct. 9.
Akira Yoshino holds a model of a lithium-ion battery during a press conference on Oct. 9.Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Recycling batteries is the key to securing enough raw materials to power the surge in electric vehicle demand, according to a winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

“The point is whether EV batteries can be recycled,” said Akira Yoshino, a Japanese chemist who was awarded the prize with two others for their pioneering work on modern lithium-ion batteries that are used in smartphones to cars. “The cost should pay off if all of waste car batteries in Japan are collected and processed.”