Efforts for recycled electric vehicle batteries are growing in the U.S. due to a clause in the Inflation Reduction Act, Reuters reports.

Many companies have become aware of a clause in the IRA that has not received much publicity, which would qualify recycled EV battery materials as American-made and eligible for subsidies, regardless of where the material originated from.

Over a dozen industry officials and experts interviewed by Reuters have said that this has sparked an increase in factories built in the country as well as interest from auto manufacturers in utilizing recycled materials for batteries. It could also eventually make it more difficult to obtain used EVs in developing countries.

Though the materials needed for EV batteries could become more difficult to obtain in coming years, they “can be recycled infinity times and not lose their power,” said Louie Diaz, vice president at Li-Cycle, a Canadian battery recycling firm.

Currently, China dominates battery recycling and is expected to gain more business as more EVs are introduced and age out. 

However, U.S. companies are motivated to put more focus on domestic recycling as a result of the IRA clause, which will consider recycled materials as being “urban mined” locally, as explained by Redwood Materials CEO JB Straubel.