\u00a9 shutterstock\/Quality Stock Arts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAre there any challenges in the supply chain for lithium batteries that have surfaced recently, and what steps are being taken to mitigate these challenges?<\/h3>\n Education is a perennial challenge because of the rapid growth in the social and economic importance of lithium. As recently as five years ago, politicians rarely mentioned lithium, but now it has become a hot topic with all the media attention and regulatory interest this brings. We are seeing a real thirst for reliable information about lithium from industry, regulators, and the public.<\/p>\n
On a more practical level, a key challenge is the time needed to bring on new industrial lithium mines. This is far longer than the time needed to build a refinery or EV factory, even up to ten years. We often hear from our members that the bottleneck is the time taken to secure permission, and it is encouraging to see several countries looking very closely at their legislative framework with regard to encouraging faster development of lithium mines without sacrificing the quality of the process.<\/p>\n
ILiA and its members all champion sustainability in the industry. Are there any emerging practices that are helping to ensure this further?<\/h3>\n Yes, that is correct. In fact, sustainability is one of ILiA\u2019s three core principles and was one of the key considerations for the founding members when they created ILiA in 2021. We support our members\u2019 efforts to supply lithium that is sustainably and responsibly sourced through workshops, webinars, and the work of our technical subcommittees.<\/p>\n
Many lithium companies are adopting standards that certify their performance. There are many mining standards which can apply to the lithium industry, and ILiA does not endorse a particular one, but it is worth recognising that last year, two of our Core Members, Albemarle Corporation and SQM, achieved the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) standard, which is considered by many people in the industry to be the hardest mining standard to achieve.<\/p>\n
What is ILiA working on to support its members in achieving sustainability?<\/h3>\n One of our flagship projects, run by the Sustainable Lithium Subcommittee, is the creation of standardised guidance on how to measure the product environmental footprint of carbon and water used in lithium mining and refining. This will have a major impact, we hope, in streamlining how lithium life cycle assessments (LCAs) are done. The standardised guidance will be clear, concise, and accessible to producers, suppliers, LCA practitioners, authorities, and academia. Our goal is for lithium LCAs to truly represent the industry and contain reliable and comparable information.<\/p>\n
It is of critical importance for the lithium industry as it will serve to create a benchmark by which the industry can measure its greenhouse gas credentials. It will be available on the ILiA website for download.<\/p>\n
For this project, we created a global multi-stakeholder team of members and non-members under the leadership of Mark De Boer from Albemarle Corporation. The first chapter focuses on the carbon footprint of lithium and will be published in the first quarter of 2024. The second chapter will examine the water footprint of the lithium industry and will be published in the second half of 2024. Both projects are open to the public, and anyone interested in joining should contact us.<\/p>\n
What regulatory or policy changes have affected the lithium market in the past year, and how have industry players adapted to these changes?<\/h3>\n The last year was something of a watershed for the lithium industry, with several major regulations and legislations hitting their stride. For example, in November 2023, the European Union reached a provisional agreement on the Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to increase and diversify the EU\u2019s critical raw materials supply, strengthen circularity and recycling and boost research and innovation on resource efficiency.<\/p>\n
Another key theme in regulatory developments is battery recycling. The battery in an EV can be recycled repeatedly, creating a circular economy, not a linear one. The lithium industry is building recycling capacity in expectation of the retirement of batteries from the first generation of EVs, and a lot of regulation is trying to prepare for that scenario, too.<\/p>\n
What prompted the collaboration among leading participants in the lithium value chain to commission the risk management options analysis (RMOA) for various lithium products?<\/h3>\n We are a member-led organisation, and we launched the RMOA project in June 2023 at the request of our members. This project looks at the use and handling of lithium carbonate, hydroxide, chloride, and metal. The aim is to help regulators and industry participants better understand the uses and life cycle of lithium and its three most common salts.<\/p>\n
We started with a detailed analysis of the many applications of lithium. We have held deep-dive interviews with industry leaders so that we can map out how lithium flows through different value chains. This important piece of research on lithium will identify gaps and help support an informed discussion by regulators.<\/p>\n
How will the outcomes of this analysis aid both regulators and industry stakeholders in better comprehending the uses and life cycle of lithium?<\/h3>\n Knowing how lithium carbonate, hydroxide, chloride, and metal are used allows us to understand how they should be safely handled. This work is also important in terms of the social acceptability of lithium activities in general. It demonstrates that the lithium industry is responsible, transparent, and committed to worker safety.<\/p>\n
On a related issue, we have been working alongside other commodity associations to express our concerns regarding the European Union\u2019s proposed re-classification of lithium salts. We believe that this could have ramifications around the world, and while ILiA does not question the need for hazardous substances to be regulated proportionally or the precautionary principle, we believe strongly that substance classification must be based on clear, compelling and comprehensive scientific evidence. This is especially true for a substance of essential importance where an incorrect interpretation would have significant long-term and wide-ranging impacts on the energy transition and even human health and well-being.<\/p>\n
Could you outline the Association\u2019s main focus areas or goals for the upcoming year?<\/h3>\n Our flagship projects in the coming year will continue to be the RMOA and the publication of our guidance on how to measure the carbon and water used in lithium production. These landmark projects will benefit the entire lithium industry, providing a strong platform for future growth.<\/p>\n
We have a full diary of speaking engagements at the major global lithium conferences, and we will host lithium networking events across the world, too. Much of our effort will be on completing and promoting the LCA guidance documents for lithium, which is our first major piece of work.<\/p>\n
ILiA\u2019s four subcommittees all have full agendas, too, with projects including responsible sourcing and education. We have plans to interview key figures in the lithium industry for The Lithium Voice<\/em> magazine. And, of course, we keep our lithium network informed of all important regulatory developments and lithium events by way of our monthly newsletter (to subscribe, email info@lithium.org).<\/p>\nIt promises to be another big year for the lithium industry and ILiA!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Roland Chavasse, Secretary General & Co-Founder of ILiA, reflects on an exciting year of progress for the lithium industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":42636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24502],"tags":[24206],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
ILiA: Supporting the global lithium industry in 2024<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n