Somewhere in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a child is digging for cobalt in a narrow shaft. This cobalt ends up in a factory in China, then in a battery, and finally in an e-mountain bike. Every time the motor kicks in, this chain of events is set in motion. The industry doesn’t reveal what happens to it in the end. There’s a reason for that.

Battery Recycling: Misunderstood and Undervalued

Most riders buy a new e-mountain bike long before the battery dies. If only the battery is replaced, the old one usually ends up in the basement because nobody wants it and hardly anyone knows what to do with it. It must not end up in household trash: Lithium-ion batteries are hazardous waste, dangerous, and pose a fire risk. What many don’t know: This battery isn’t done yet. As soon as it has lost about 30 percent of its original capacity, most people replace it. But at that point, about 60 percent of the cells are still fully functional. The battery could still run for years as a solar storage unit.

At the Swiss Bike Park Oberried, that’s exactly what has been happening since 2023. Eight end-of-life batteries from the Swiss brand Thömus store solar power during the day and charge the e-bike fleet at night. The Bern University of Applied Sciences built the system as part of a research project on the circular economy of lithium batteries. It works.

Why is hardly anyone following suit? Because the major manufacturers lock their batteries with proprietary software. Only the manufacturer itself can read, check, and reset the battery’s status. No independent technician or repair shop can access it. This is not a “technical necessity,” but a business model. If people can repair or reuse their old battery, they won’t buy a new one.

In Germany, approximately 3,152 tons of e-bike batteries were introduced to the market in 2018. Of these, 114 tons—3.6 percent—were recycled. Since then, the market has tripled. By the end of 2025, an estimated 17.5 million e-bikes will be on the road in Germany. Their batteries are now reaching the end of their life one after another. The collection infrastructure is barely ready.

The hidden truth

In August 2025, Yamaha took over Brose’s e-bike business. The Coburg-based motor manufacturer had incurred a loss of 53 million euros and withdrew. Specialized, Focus, and other premium brands had relied on Brose motors. And now? Yamaha says the service will continue. But the question remains: Who bears the recycling responsibility for the tens of thousands of Brose batteries that are still in bikes or will soon end up in basements? Brose is not an isolated case. When a manufacturer goes out of business or is sold, it leaves behind batteries for which suddenly no one is responsible anymore.

The new German battery law requires recycling centers to accept all e-bike batteries free of charge starting in September 2025, regardless of brand. The EU is going even further starting in July 2026: software locks preventing independent repair shops from servicing the bikes will be banned. Starting in February 2027, every new battery must carry a digital battery passport: a QR code that provides information on condition, raw materials, and carbon footprint. That’s good, but it’s coming late.

And it doesn’t solve one problem yet: cheap batteries from direct online imports, mainly from China, enter the market without a recycling fee. Everyone else still pays for their disposal. Anyone who buys a brand-name battery pays a fee included in the purchase price that goes into the recycling system. Part of this covers the costs for batteries that have never contributed to the system. The fair-minded biker subsidizes the cheap imports.

Revolutionary battery recycling: New paths for e-MTBs

According to its own figures, the German company Liofit has already saved over 100,000 batteries from the shredder. The principle is simple: An app scans the type plate, compares it with a database of over 1,000 models, and within minutes it’s clear whether the battery is repairable. Green light: Cell replacement for around 350 euros, instead of 670 euros for a new Bosch battery. Red light: clean recycling. The process developed by the German company Duesenfeld goes beyond traditional smelting: In addition to cobalt and nickel, it also recovers lithium, graphite, and the electrolyte solvent, and, according to the company’s own figures, saves 7.7 tons of CO₂ per ton of recycled batteries. Decentralized small-scale facilities could make this possible directly on-site, without long-distance transport of hazardous materials. The technology exists, but it is used too rarely.

What’s left for the mountain biker? No guilty conscience. But a few questions worth asking: Does my manufacturer have a take-back program? Will there still be a replacement for this battery in five years, or will I have to buy a new one? And: Can this battery be repaired, or is it designed to end up in a shredder?  The answers to these questions say more about a brand than any sustainability campaign.