Coordination between importing and exporting countries is needed to prevent inferior products from being imported, particularly by developing countries, while still meeting demand for used EVs. International coordinating bodies such as the UN’s Informal Working Group on Safer and Cleaner Used and New Vehicles may prove useful in these efforts,125 and projects such as the UN Road Safety Fund’s Safer and Cleaner Used Vehicles for Africa may serve as a reproducible example of work to harmonize import-export regulations.126 Overview As a small, remote island in the Atlantic, Bermuda is taking impressive action on its vehicle electrification journey, as seen in its actions to electrify the government’s vehicle fleet127 and public buses.128 As part of that effort, it is strategically asking the battery recycling question early. While its fleet is diverse, including public buses and fleet cars, private passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, the relatively small numbers of vehicles make it challenging to design a cost-effective EVB EOL strategy. Bermuda’s internal combustion engine vehicles are already being disposed of improperly by being dumped at a landfill site on newly reclaimed land on inshore waters. There is insufficient demand for aftermarket parts, no local infrastructure for recycling given the small population, and no cost-effective option to get the vehicles to the mainland for proper disposal. As its vehicle stock transitions to EVs, Bermuda will need to find a way to deal not only with EOL vehicles, but also with EOL batteries, which carry their own risks if not disposed of properly. Fortunately, Bermuda is asking this question early in its EV transition in order to have a robust solution in place by the time meaningful numbers of EVBs reach EOL on the island. Challenges Bermuda faces several challenges on its road to responsible EOL EVB management: –Remote location: Bermuda is approximately 650 miles from the nearest landmass, the US. Transportation of goods in and out of the island is already expensive, and products are normally significantly more expensive than in the US. Transporting used batteries off the island will incur significantly higher cost due to fire and safety considerations, which will be considerably greater than the possible revenue from the recoverable battery materials. Furthermore, there are very few shipping lines going through Bermuda and their willingness and competency to handle used battery products is unknown. –Small population: With a population of around 60,000, Bermuda does not have the economies of scale that can help reduce cost and increase efficiency of EOL management. –Lack of manufacturing presence: Bermuda does not have an EVB manufacturing sector to potentially remanufacture used batteries or utilize recycled content from EOL batteries. Bermuda and its closest neighbour Cuba HaitiDominician RepublicUnited States MexicoBermuda (British overseas territory) CASE STUDY 2 Challenges faced by a small island nation Powering the Future: Overcoming Battery Supply Chain Challenges with Circularity 31

Powering the Future 2025