Recycling

Key factors

Pyrometallurgy: A heat-based extraction and purification process involves steps Roasting, Smelting, Refining. A vast amount of energy is required, as LIB are heated to between 1200°C and 1600°C. only a few raw materials, such as cobalt and nickel, can be recycled. Lithium, aluminum, and manganese end up in the slag and are not recovered, as this is not economically feasible.

Hydrometallurgy: This process is used to extract metals from ore, which is achieved by recovering and dissolving the metals as salt in successive water-based steps, involving leaching, purification, and recovery of the targeted metal by selective precipitation or electrowinning. This method plays an essential role in extracting strategic and rare metals.

Direct recycling: Direct recycling first involves shredding the battery to separate battery components without breaking down the chemical structure of the active materials. The resulting material—often called black mass—is ideal for recovery, regeneration, and reuse in battery designs.

Industry: Recycling Source: DOE launches its first lithium-ion battery recycling R&D center: ReCell, Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles

Volta Foundation

Extracted from the PDF; charts and images may read imperfectly.