Battery recycling remains a difficult public-market theme because many of the industry’s cleaner pure-play operators are still private, while several investable names are either small, thinly traded, or housed inside larger mining, metals, utility, and battery-materials businesses. That makes stock selection less straightforward than in mature recycling or battery-manufacturing segments. Still, the industry’s importance has grown with the scale of battery deployment. The International Energy Agency said in its Global EV Outlook 2026 that EV battery deployment reached 1.2 TWh in 2025, up almost 30% from 2024 and more than seven times the 2020 level. The agency also said electric cars accounted for more than 70% of global battery deployment in 2025, while stationary battery storage made up over 15% of lithium-ion battery use.
Recycling sits at the intersection of two pressures: rising battery volumes and the need to secure critical minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. IEA analysis has also highlighted improved hydrometallurgical recovery techniques for these battery materials, while Reuters noted in July 2026 that battery-metal markets remain sensitive to supply restrictions, policy shifts, and uneven EV demand. The result is an industry with long-term strategic relevance but a limited pool of publicly traded companies with direct exposure to battery recycling.
Methodology
For this article, we screened for publicly traded companies with exposure to the battery recycling industry. We focused on stocks that trade in the U.S. in some capacity. Since the public battery recycling universe is limited and many pure-play operators remain private, we also included diversified battery materials, metals, and energy companies with identifiable battery recycling operations. The stocks were ranked by the number of institutional owners holding stakes in them, according to Fintel data as of Q1 2026. The final list was limited to companies with recent news and developments.
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10. Livium Ltd. (OTC:LMMFF)
Livium Ltd. (OTC:LMMFF) is one of the Best Battery Recycling Stocks to Buy. On June 9, Livium said its wholly owned subsidiary Envirostream Australia entered into a recycling services framework agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, a subsidiary of CATL. The agreement formalizes an existing relationship under which Envirostream had already provided battery recycling services on a purchase-order basis.
Under the framework, Envirostream will provide battery collection, logistics and recycling services, including dismantling, processing to black mass, recycling certification and destruction reporting. Services will be delivered in Australia, with potential coverage in New Zealand, and the initial term runs through May 15, 2029. The contract is non-exclusive and has no minimum volume commitments, with pricing and scope set case by case. That keeps the near-term revenue profile less locked in, but the counterparty quality is useful for Livium’s position in regional battery circularity. Livium says Envirostream is Australia’s leading battery recycler and focuses on recovering valuable materials from end-of-life batteries.
Livium Ltd. (OTC:LMMFF) is an Australia-based clean-energy materials company operating across battery recycling, lithium chemicals, and battery materials, with battery recycling conducted through Envirostream Australia.
9. Fortum Oyj (OTC:FOJCY)
Fortum Oyj (OTC:FOJCY) is one of the Best Battery Recycling Stocks to Buy. The latest usable investor-relevant update is not a battery-recycling release. On June 15, Fitch Ratings affirmed Fortum’s BBB+ credit rating with a stable outlook, saying favorable Nordic power prices should help offset lower nuclear output. That matters because Fortum is a broad utility first, so its battery-recycling exposure has to be assessed alongside the balance sheet and power-generation base that support the wider portfolio.
Fortum’s direct link to the theme comes through Fortum Battery Recycling, which signed a CINEA grant agreement on March 25 for the NEXT HYDROMET expansion of its Harjavalta hydrometallurgical battery recycling facility. Fortum said the project could receive up to EUR 40 million and would improve the recovery of critical metals from end-of-life EV batteries and industrial battery waste. The company also described Harjavalta as Europe’s largest closed-loop hydrometallurgical battery recycling facility. Fortum therefore remains a diversified, lower-purity battery recycling name rather than a pure recycler, but its recycling asset is real.
Fortum Oyj (OTC:FOJCY) is a Finland-based energy company focused on power generation, electricity sales, district heating, decarbonization services, and battery recycling through Fortum Battery Recycling.
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