Articles 70–72 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and Annex XII set recycling-efficiency and material-recovery targets that determine what treatment plants must achieve — and, through Article 8, what recycled material flows back into new batteries. This paper fixes the numbers, follows the nickel route through the recycling plant and explains the economics that make nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) a preferred feedstock.
The Regulation distinguishes two metrics. Recycling efficiency is the ratio of output material and energy fractions to input battery mass: before 2025 the minimums were 80 % for NiCd, 75 % for lead-acid, 65 % for lithium and 50 % for other batteries including NiMH; from 2030 the targets tighten to 80 % for lead-acid and 70 % for lithium, with other chemistries held to the modernised Annex XII levels. Material recovery targets specific metals: by the end of 2027 recyclers must recover 90 % of cobalt, copper, lead and nickel (per metal) and 50 % of lithium; by the end of 2031 these rise to 95 % for Co/Cu/Pb/Ni and 80 % for lithium. Nickel is therefore a named, high-priority recovery metal — and NiMH is one of the most nickel-dense battery streams in the collection system.
Collected NiMH cells first pass discharge and mechanical pretreatment: shredding under inert or aqueous conditions, magnetic separation of steel casings, and sieving that produces an electrode "black mass" rich in nickel, hydrogen-storage alloy and rare earths. Two metallurgical routes follow. Pyrometallurgy smelts the fraction into a nickel-alloy matte that feeds stainless steel; hydrometallurgy leaches the black mass with acid, separates nickel and cobalt by solvent extraction or selective precipitation, and precipitates nickel sulfate or nickel metal pure enough to return to electrode or foam manufacture. Rare-earth elements (lanthanum, cerium, neodymium from the AB5 alloy) are recovered by selective precipitation in advanced lines. The process is mature at industrial scale in Europe and Asia, with demonstrated nickel recovery comfortably above the 90 % target.
Recycling economics follow metal value and recovery cost. NiMH offers high nickel and steel content with no organic electrolyte, no thermal-runaway risk in processing, and no lithium-loss accounting complexity; the recovered nickel commands a stable commodity price and the steel fraction is directly saleable. Compare this with lithium chemistries, where black-mass processing is costly, lithium recovery yields were historically below 50 %, and cross-border waste-shipment rules tightened after 2022–2023. The scorecard below illustrates the structural difference: NiMH scores high on metal recovery, infrastructure maturity, collection value and process simplicity. For PROs paying treatment fees by chemistry, NiMH typically sits in the low-net-cost tier — a fact that flows back into lower eco-contributions for product lines using it.
The recovered nickel becomes the recycled-content feedstock that Article 8 requires in covered batteries from 2028 documentation and 2031/2036 thresholds (16 %/26 % cobalt, 6 %/15 % nickel, 6 %/12 % lithium, 85 % lead). Mass-balance certificates from recycler through refiner to electrode maker are the evidentiary chain; design choices that simplify disassembly and keep chemistry streams separate improve the yield. NiMH product teams can support this loop by avoiding mixed-metal welded assemblies where alternatives exist, marking materials per Article 13 and supplying dismantling information under Annex XII.
A credible recycling-value brief contains: composition by mass (nickel, steel, alloy, electrolyte, plastics); the demonstrated recovery route and its nickel/rare-earth yields; design-for-recycling notes; alignment with the 90/95 % material-recovery targets; and the link to Article 8 recycled-content evidence. Claims should cite process reality rather than aspiration: "recyclable with nickel recovery above 90 % at qualified facilities" is defensible; vague "eco-friendly" language is not.
Weijiang Power designs NiMH cells for the circular loop: documented nickel and steel composition, separable construction, Annex XII dismantling information and supplier links to qualified hydrometallurgical recovery. Ask for our recycling and material-recovery brief with your next inquiry and we will supply composition-by-mass data, recovery-route alignment with the 90/95 % targets and the mass-balance narrative your sustainability report needs.
