AMMAN — The Ministry of Environment said that it has licensed three specialised private companies to collect electric-vehicle (EV) batteries and handle them as hazardous waste.

 

In remarks to Al Mamlaka, Jihad Sawair, the ministry’s advisor for technical and international affairs, said that the licensed companies are responsible for collecting the batteries and re-exporting them abroad.

 

He added that the rapid expansion of the EV market requires early planning to address the growing volume of battery waste, which is expected to rise significantly in the coming years.

 

“Fully electric vehicles now represent 15 per cent of all vehicles in the Kingdom, while electric and hybrid models combined make up 28 per cent,” he said.

 

Sawair stressed the importance of establishing a structured framework to manage the increasing number of EV batteries, positioning Jordan as a regional model in this field.

 

He added that storing EV batteries at the hazardous waste landfill in the Swaqa area remains safe and environmentally secure.

 

Speaking at the opening of a dialogue session titled “Tracking Electric Vehicle Batteries,” Minister of Environment Ayman Suleiman said that the environmental challenges tied to the growth of the EV sector require national preparedness to deal with damaged batteries.

 

He emphasised the need for a unified database to track batteries, developed in cooperation with the Standards and Metrology Organisation, the Customs Department, and the private sector, with the Environment Ministry overseeing the system.

 

The ministry has recently said that 720 tons of electric and hybrid vehicle batteries were exported in 2024, announcing the introduction of standard operating procedures for handling lithium battery incidents.