Glossary

Battery collection, defined.

The terms that come up when a used EV battery changes hands, in plain language. Regulatory terms quote the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022.

Battery pack: Under the Battery Waste Management Rules, “any set or module of cells and/or Battery that are connected or encapsulated within an outer casing so as to form a complete unit that the end-user is not intended to split up or open.” An EV battery is almost always a pack.
Black mass: The dark powder recovered when lithium-ion cells are shredded and processed: a mix of the cell's active materials from which recyclers extract metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt.
Chain of custody: A continuous record of who held a battery, when, and what happened at each handover, from the point of collection to the recycler's gate. Read more about Chain of custody
Consignment: A load dispatched to a recycler. In our process a consignment is a sealed lot, with its manifest, invoice and e-way bill.
CPCB: The Central Pollution Control Board, which runs the centralised portal for registrations, EPR certificates and returns under the Battery Waste Management Rules.
Critical minerals: Minerals a country considers essential and at risk of supply disruption. India's Ministry of Mines lists 30, including lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite.
E-way bill: An electronic document required under Rule 138 of the CGST Rules to move goods above a consignment value of fifty thousand rupees.
Electric vehicle battery: Under the Battery Waste Management Rules, “any Battery specifically designed to provide traction to hybrid and electric vehicles for road transport.” One of the rules' four battery categories.
End of life battery: Under the Battery Waste Management Rules, a “Battery which have been used, completed its intended use and is not meant for refurbishment.”
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility): The obligation on battery producers to meet collection and recycling or refurbishment targets for the batteries they place on the market, set by battery category and by chemistry. Read more about EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility)
EPR certificate: The certificate a producer uses to meet its EPR obligation. Certificates are generated by registered recyclers and refurbishers, not by collectors.
LFP: Lithium iron phosphate: a lithium-ion chemistry whose cathode contains no nickel or cobalt. Read more about LFP
Lot: A group of packs of one chemistry, opened at the yard, filled one sticker at a time, and sealed against a safety checklist. A lot code carries the chemistry and the date, such as LFP-2026-08-13.
Manifest: The list of every sticker in a pickup or a lot, with weights. A pickup manifest is signed by the seller; a dispatch manifest travels with the lot.
NMC: Nickel manganese cobalt: a lithium-ion chemistry whose cathode contains nickel, manganese and cobalt. Read more about NMC
Quarantine: A separate bay for swollen, damaged or unidentified packs. A quarantined pack stays on the record but can never be sealed into a lot.
Refurbishment: Restoring a used battery for further use. Under the rules, registered refurbishers, like recyclers, can generate EPR certificates.
Single-chemistry lot: A lot that holds only one chemistry, LFP or NMC. Mixed lots can't be sealed in our process, because recyclers buy chemistries as different feedstock.
Weighbridge reconciliation: Comparing the weight a lot was sealed at with the weight recorded on the recycler's weighbridge, and writing down the variance rather than rounding it away.