Recycling and reusing lithium-ion batteries is a critical aspect of a circular economy. These batteries, which power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, contain valuable materials that can be harmful if not disposed of properly.

By recycling these batteries, we can recover these materials and use them to manufacture new batteries. Moreover, some batteries may still have a useful “second life” in less demanding applications after their first life in an electric vehicle. This not only reduces waste but also decreases the demand for new materials, promoting sustainability and resource efficiency.

“Lithium-ion technology has taken us a long way, but it has fundamental limitations. We need disruptive innovations in battery chemistry and materials science to meet our future needs.” – Yet-Ming Chiang, Professor, MIT.

A circular economy is a model aiming to reduce waste and optimize resource use by reusing and recycling materials. Lithium-ion battery recycling is a key component of the circular economy for the energy sector, as it recovers valuable materials, reduces environmental impacts, and creates new economic opportunities.

In modern day-to-day life, Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are essential to power our smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles, and store energy from solar panels and wind turbines. However, batteries have a limited lifespan. As more Li-ion batteries reach the end of life each year, tackling the mounting piles of battery waste through recycling and reuse is crucial for a circular economy.

Since the first commercialization of Li-ion batteries in 1991, it has emerged as the dominant rechargeable battery technology, with high energy density, low self-discharge, and the lack of a memory effect making Li-ion the perfect battery for consumer electronics.

In recent years, improving performance and falling prices have opened up massive new markets such as electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Li-ion battery production is expected to grow from today’s 0.3 TWh annually to over 4 TWh by 2030.

The International Energy Agency forecasts that the number of electric vehicles will grow from around 10 million in 2020 to over 145 million by 2030. Recycling will be essential to manage the end-of-life batteries from worn-out EVs and electronics.

Li-ion batteries contain valuable materials that should be recovered through recycling. Lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other metals in Li-ion batteries are finite resources. Cobalt is also one of the most expensive and geographically concentrated battery metals. Lithium demand is expected to grow exponentially.

Current Li-ion battery recycling rates are extremely low, estimated at only around 5% globally. But recycling technology is rapidly improving. Modern Li-ion battery recyclers use shredding, sorting, and hydrometallurgical processes to recover high-purity cathode metals and alloys from spent batteries.

The recovered materials can then be reused to manufacture fresh cathodes for new Li-ion batteries, closing the loop. Direct cathode-to-cathode recycling allows reusing materials in the same application, reducing the loss of quality. Recycled metals and metal compounds compete with mined materials on both purity and price.

Reusing still-functional battery components also has great promise. Battery packs can be designed for easy disassembly so the modules and cells can be tested, reconfigured, and reused in new packs as they come out of old EVs. This “second life” in stationary storage extends battery lifetimes before recycling.

While Li-ion battery recycling holds great potential, there are challenges to overcome. Battery chemistries and packaging designs vary widely, making it difficult to automate recycling processes. Transporting and collecting batteries from dispersed locations is expensive.

Regulations around transporting and recycling hazardous battery materials need improvement in many regions. Battery makers like Tesla are redesigning battery packs and chemistries for easier disassembly and recycling.

Policies like “right to repair” and extended producer responsibility can encourage design for recyclability. Greater adoption of battery leasing business models means companies retain ownership of batteries at the end of life, streamlining collection. I

n my opinion, Lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles are essential for the transition to a low-carbon economy. However, lithium-ion batteries pose environmental and social challenges such as the depletion of critical minerals, generation of hazardous waste, and the risk of supply chain disruptions.

Let’s look at some of the examples,

In India, a move towards wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), the demand for lithium-ion batteries will significantly increase in the next few decades. The government and industry are planning to repurpose or recycle these EV batteries, which last for about 5 years in EVs. These retired batteries can be either repurposed for a second life in alternate applications or recycled to recover raw materials.

China is also another country where studies explored the secondary use of lithium-ion batteries recycled from electric vehicles for power load peak shaving, proving to be effective for grid companies.

It shows the need and highlights the importance and potentiality of lithium-ion battery recycling in contributing to a circular economy.

Sources:- Waste 360, Recycling circular economy, Wiley online library, IEA, Mckinsey, certifiedrecycling, faraday, emerald insight, zenobe