A Critical Review of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Processes from a Circular Economy Perspective

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are currently one of the most important electrochemical energy storage devices, powering electronic mobile devices and electric vehicles alike. However, there is a remarkable difference between their rate of production and rate of recycling. At the end of their lifecycle, only a limited number of LIBs undergo any recycling treatment, with the majority go to landfills or being hoarded in households. Further losses of LIB components occur because the the state-of-the-art LIB recycling processes are limited to components with high economic value, e.g., Co, Cu, Fe, and Al. With the increasing popularity of concepts such as “circular economy” (CE), new LIB recycling systems have been proposed that target a wider spectrum of compounds, thus reducing the environmental impact associated with LIB production. This review work presents a discussion of the current practices and some of the most promising emerging technologies for recycling LIBs. While other authoritative reviews have focused on the description of recycling processes, the aim of the present was is to offer an analysis of recycling technologies from a CE perspective. Consequently, the discussion is based on the ability of each technology to recover every component in LIBs. The gathered data depicted a direct relationship between process complexity and the variety and usability of the recovered fractions. Indeed, only processes employing a combination of mechanical processing, and hydro- and pyrometallurgical steps seemed able to obtain materials suitable for LIB (re)manufacture. On the other hand, processes relying on pyrometallurgical steps are robust, but only capable of recovering metallic components.

Integrated Battery Scrap Recycling and Nickel Slag Cleaning with Methane Reduction

“…Pyrometallurgical research on LIB recycling has mainly focused on the recovery of Co and Ni [11]. Industrial-scale pyrometallurgical processes that can use battery scrap fractions or have been developed for recycling batteries include the Inmetco process [11], the roasting-smelting process at Xstrata, the Valéas TM process by Umicore [8], and the Sony process [12].…”

“…In the DON process, dried nickel concentrate is fed to a flash smelting furnace (FSF), from which a matte and slag are obtained. The high-nickel, low-iron matte is further refined to recover valuables [13][14][15]. The Fe-Si-O slag, on the other hand, is mainly comprised of fayalite (Fe 2 SiO 4 ), some ferric oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ), and some magnesia (MgO), with minor concentrations of nickel and cobalt [16].…”

Analysis of the Existing Barriers for the Market Development of Power to Hydrogen (P2H) in Italy

“…Therefore, since their presence is restricted to a few areas of the world [28], possible complications in accessing raw materials could occur in the future. Thirdly, economic and environmental barriers related to batteries recycling also have to be accounted for [29]. In particular, considering lithium battery technology, almost 0.3 kWh of energy and 800 L of water are consumed for 1 kWh of storage capacity [30].…”

Future Portable Li-Ion Cells’ Recycling Challenges in Poland

“…Separation processes involve the mechanical loosening of the structure (body) of the battery and separation of components with characteristic physical properties (density, size, magnetic properties). These activities are usually simple and cheaper than other processes, and for that reason they should be used to prepare the material stream for further processing [31][32][33][34]. The second main processes are pyrometallurgical and/or hydrometallurgical processes.…”