The Norwegian Association of Car Importers (BIL) and Sweden’s Mobility Sweden have entered into a strategic partnership to create a coordinated system for collecting and recycling electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as both countries prepare for new EU rules on battery management.
The cooperation will be carried out through the organisations’ subsidiaries – Autoretur Battery Recycling (ABR) in Norway and FoRetur in Sweden – with the goal of building an efficient, harmonised take-back framework that meets future regulatory requirements. Parallel tenders for processing companies are set to launch in both countries later this month.
“The automotive industry of the future will be largely electric. It is therefore crucial that we succeed in building an efficient and circular battery economy,” said Anna Henstedt, Head of Recycling at Mobility Sweden and CEO of FoRetur AB.
“Our aim is to ensure both environmental benefits for society and the competitiveness of the automotive industry. Together we can build a system that is robust and sustainable in the long term,” added Erik Andresen, CEO of the Norwegian association BIL.
The partnership pursues several goals, including maximising environmental benefits, leveraging economies of scale, and working with authorities toward harmonised reporting systems. It follows the recent launch of ABR by BIL, which will be responsible for collecting and processing end-of-life batteries in Norway. Demand is expected to grow rapidly, with more than 50,000 batteries needing disposal annually within five years and over 100,000 by 2035.