Charging ahead

Our writer Fiona Nicolson this week interviewed Rahul Sen Sharma of Indxx on the firm’s global battery recycling index, in a week that saw a slew of sustainable launches which came as something of a relief after the crypto excitements of the week before.

We are back with a theme, with Sen Sharma explaining that: "As global electric mobility rises, there is a corresponding surge in demand for EV batteries. This has resulted in substantial growth in battery production, projected to exceed five terawatt hours annually from gigafactories worldwide by 2030.

Sen Sharma says that with EV-battery volumes increasing, over 100 million vehicle batteries are expected to be retired in the next decade. This presents a myriad of growth opportunities in battery recycling. Unlike traditional batteries, end-of-life EV batteries can be remanufactured and repurposed in other applications.

"Additionally, the global emphasis on sustainability and environmental responsibility is creating a favourable environment for the growth of the battery-recycling market, estimated to reach USD23.2 billion by 2025," he says.

Turn to our launches’ pages, brought to you by STOXX, to see how sustainable ETFs are back in fashion at the start of this year.

We also published iShares by BlackRock’s report on the record breaking year for global ETPs that saw Laura Cooper, senior macro investment strategist for iShares EMEA at BlackRock, saying: "Investor risk appetite was strong in 2023 as evident in the second-highest inflow year on record for global ETPs, with USD965.4 billion added."

Cooper comments that it was also a record-breaking year for fixed income ETP adoption, which: "Aided the advance, where USD331.9 billion of buying was driven by increases across the fixed income spectrum. Strong conviction in rates through the year gave way to spread assets towards year-end alongside the broad risk rally, as highlighted by a combined USD29.1 billion to credit ETPs alone in Q4."

The nominations for the European ETF Express ETF Awards are ending today. For your chosen companies to be in with a chance of winning participants need to both nominate and vote, with the voting survey being released on Monday 29th January.

To participate in the awards, please nominate now.

Beverly Chandler, Managing Editor

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