I think the idea is that it costs much more labor and energy to fully recycle a battery pack than to repurpose it, and you can always do the recycling later on.

I think the idea is that it costs much more labor and energy to fully recycle a battery pack than to repurpose it, and you can always do the recycling later on. If you're suggesting the time, energy, and safety and compromises required to design vehicles around modular batteries might not be offset by the cost delta of recycling I think that's a reasonable concern. Combining this with swappable packs might change the variables. A system by which packs are routinely switched out and frequently tested could easily lead to a robust circular economy and could provide a better alternative to Vehicle To Grid solutions for load shifting.