€400,000 programme on water sustainability launched

From ageing electric batteries to old engines to rearview mirrors, the auto industry is revving up its recycling efforts as it faces pressure to reduce its colossal carbon footprint. The world’s automakers are investing in facilities to salvage old parts but the industry is also looking to recycle the millions of electric batteries used for the cars of the future. While electric cars are cleaner than their fossil fuel forebears, the raw materials needed for their batteries are extracted from mines in Africa that are often accused of environmental damage and using child labour. “As demand for these materials increase, the pressures on these (economically marginalised) regions are likely to be amplified, risking the goals of a socially and ecologically sustainable renewable energy system,” according to the Institute for Sustainable Futures at University of Technology Sydney.