Pakistan’s emerging lithium-ion battery economy is usually discussed in terms of investment, technology and market size. Yet there is another requirement that will ultimately determine whether a domestic recycling industry can operate successfully: people with the skills to run it.
A lithium-ion battery recycling facility is not a conventional scrap yard. Batteries arrive carrying electrical energy, different chemistries and varying levels of damage. Some can be tested for second-life applications, others require dismantling, while end-of-life cells eventually move through mechanical or chemical recovery processes. Each stage requires a different combination of engineering, technical and safety expertise.
The workforce therefore begins with trained battery technicians. At collection and pre-processing facilities, technicians must be able to identify battery chemistry, inspect packs for damage, measure remaining charge, safely discharge batteries and determine whether they are suitable for reuse or recycling. Electrical and electronics expertise becomes particularly important when handling large battery packs from electric vehicles and energy-storage systems.
Electrical engineers also have a wider role. Modern battery packs contain sophisticated Battery Management Systems that record voltage, temperature, charging cycles and cell performance. Analysing this information can help determine whether a battery should be repaired, repurposed or recycled. As second-life markets develop, diagnostic expertise could itself become a specialised technical service.
A lithium-ion battery recycling facility is not a conventional scrap yard and requires a combination of engineering, technical and safety expertise
Mechanical skills become more important once batteries enter the dismantling and processing stages. Mechanical engineers, machine operators and maintenance technicians are required to operate dismantling systems, shredders, conveyors and material-separation equipment. Automated recycling plants also require technicians capable of maintaining sensors, control systems and specialised machinery.
Further down the recycling chain, the skill requirement becomes more specialised. Hydrometallurgical recycling uses chemical processes to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and other materials from black mass. Chemical and metallurgical engineers are therefore required to design and manage leaching, separation, precipitation and purification processes. Chemists and materials scientists are needed to analyse recovered materials and ensure that their purity is suitable for industrial reuse.
Environmental engineers are another essential part of the workforce. Chemical recycling involves wastewater, emissions and hazardous materials that must be carefully managed. Environmental specialists are required to operate treatment systems, monitor emissions and ensure that recycling processes comply with environmental standards.
But perhaps the most important skill cuts across every occupation: safety. Even used lithium-ion batteries can retain enough energy to cause serious fires. Damaged cells can short-circuit and enter thermal runaway, a chain reaction in which rapidly rising temperatures can spread from one cell to another. International safety guidance therefore places considerable emphasis on employee training, battery inspection, safe storage, ventilation, fire detection, and emergency response procedures.
This means recycling plants also require dedicated environment, health and safety professionals. Workers must know how to identify swollen, leaking or overheating batteries, isolate damaged units and respond to fires or chemical exposure. International guidance specifically recommends training employees involved in removing, dismantling and handling end-of-life lithium batteries.
The manpower requirement is therefore multidisciplinary. A commercial operation may need electrical and electronics engineers, chemical and metallurgical engineers, mechanical engineers, environmental specialists, chemists, laboratory and quality-control personnel, machine operators, maintenance technicians and trained dismantling workers. Not every recycling business will require all these professionals from the beginning; the workforce will depend on which part of the value chain the company enters.
For Pakistan, this creates an opportunity beyond recycling itself. Universities and technical and vocational institutions can begin developing specialised battery programmes that cover diagnostics, high-voltage safety, dismantling, materials recovery, and recycling operations. Existing electrical, chemical, mechanical and metallurgical programmes already provide much of the academic foundation. What is needed is to connect these disciplines with practical battery-specific training.
International experience demonstrates the importance of doing this early. The US Department of Energy’s Battery Workforce Initiative has developed industry-led training standards for occupations such as battery machine operators and repair technicians and is extending its workforce work into battery-material processing and recycling. The underlying lesson is simple: workforce development needs to grow alongside the industry rather than follow it.
Industry should be part of that training process. Recycling companies, battery assemblers, universities and technical institutes can jointly design certification programmes, apprenticeships and practical training facilities. International technology partners can provide specialised training during equipment installation and plant commissioning, allowing local engineers and technicians to gradually develop operational expertise.
This approach would also create a wider employment ladder. Battery recycling does not require only PhDs and senior engineers. It creates roles ranging from collection and trained dismantling technicians to machine operators,
laboratory staff, maintenance specialists, engineers and research scientists. Well-designed vocational programmes can therefore open the industry to workers with different levels of education while maintaining rigorous technical and safety standards.
Pakistan’s battery-recycling challenge is consequently not simply a question of how many plants it can build. It is also a question of who will operate them safely, efficiently and competitively.
Machines can be imported and technology can be licensed. Technical capability, however, must ultimately be built at home. If Pakistan begins preparing its engineers, technicians and workers now, the growth of battery recycling can create something more valuable than recovered lithium or copper: a specialised workforce capable of supporting the country’s wider transition towards advanced manufacturing.
The writer is working as a research associate at the Centre of Excellence-CPEC under PIDE and the Ministry of Planning and Special Initiatives and specialises in trade, investment and industrial cooperation.
Email: sapna.vk@pide.org.pk
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 7th, 2026
