The Necessity of Recycling of Waste Li-Ion Batteries Used in Electric Vehicles as Objects Posing a Threat to Human Health and the Environment

Abstract

The automotive industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the modern economy. Growing customer expectations, implementing solutions related to electromobility, and increasingly stringent legal restrictions in the field of environmental protection, determine the development and introduction of innovative technologies in the field of car production. To power the most modern vehicles that include electric and hybrid cars, packages of various types of lithium-ion cells are used, the number of which is constantly growing. After use, these batteries, due to their complex chemical composition, constitute hazardous waste that is difficult to manage and must be recycled in modern technological lines. The article presents the morphological characteristics of the currently used types of Li-ion cells, and the threats to the safety of people and the environment that may occur in the event of improper use of Li-ion batteries and accumulators have been identified and described on the basis of the Regulation of the European Parliament and Council (EC) No. 1272/2008 of 16 December 2008 and No. 1907/2006 of 18 December 2006 on the classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures and the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals (REACH), establishing the European Chemicals Agency.

Sustainability for All? The challenges of predicting and managing the potential risks of end-of-life electric vehicles and their batteries in the Global South

“…Recycling of EoL LIBs is a complex cost and energy intensive industrial process (Mossali et al 2020). Several technologies are available based on mechanical methods in combination with pyrometallurgical and/or hydrometallurgical methods (Sobianowska-Turek et al 2021). According to Kotak et al (2021), the main recycling option is hydrometallurgical recycling, which is usually accompanied by a pre-processing method that can be mechanical or a pyrometallurgical method.…”

“…According to Kotak et al (2021), the main recycling option is hydrometallurgical recycling, which is usually accompanied by a pre-processing method that can be mechanical or a pyrometallurgical method. The most sought metals in these processes are cobalt and nickel due to their economic and ecological benefits (Sobianowska-Turek et al 2021). The efficiency of the recycling process depends on the technology adopted, and according to a review carried out by Melin (2019), lithium and cobalt recovery efficiencies are usually more than 90%.…”

“…Study from Sobianowska-Turek et al ( 2021) analysed the chemical safety data sheet of the compounds present in LIBs to evaluate the physicochemical and toxic properties of the substances. As a result, it was shown that cathodes and electrolytes used in LIBs can cause i.e skin and/or eye irritation, are toxic to organs and may cause allergies and carcinogenic effects (Sobianowska-Turek et al 2021). An example is the Lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), a common organic solvent used in LIBs, which has harmful properties such as flammability and adverse effects to organs and tissues.…”

The Second Generation Electromobility in Polish Urban Public Transport: The Factors and Mechanisms of Spatial Development

“…The main technological challenge is connected with the reliability and safety of the most important components of electric vehicles: batteries, power electric convertors and electric motors [21]. A crucial question here is the battery technology and lifecycle [22][23][24][25], but environmental aspects of their production and recycling cannot be forgotten either [26,27]. From the point of view of electric transport functioning, a critical issue is the charging infrastructure [28,29].…”

Life-Related Hazards of Materials Applied to Mg–S Batteries

“…The use of various materials, particularly in the case of the Mg-S cells, is always associated with identified, partly identified, or non-identified hazards. This aspect can be significant in relation to the further recycling of such materials [292].…”