Sales for electric vehicles, consumer electronics and stationary storage are expected to increase lithium-ion demand by double in 2025 and quadruple by 2030. That will create a LOT of spent batteries. Lithium-ion battery recycling is not well developed.
The popularity and cost effectiveness of energy storage battery recycling depends on the battery chemistry. Lead-acid batteries, being eclipsed in new installations by lithium-ion but still a major component of existing energy storage systems, were the first battery to be recycled in 1912.
Where should energy storage batteries be disposed?
Due to these potential issues, disposal should only take place at dedicated waste management centres and in many cases are subject to standards or regulations relating to disposal of dangerous goods. The popularity and cost effectiveness of energy storage battery recycling depends on the battery chemistry.
Support for lithium-ion recycling in the present day is little better than that for disposal — in the EU, fewer than 5% of lithium-ion batteries for any application are recycled. Companies such as Tesla are investing in battery recycling programs, but worldwide the efforts fall far short of the mark.
Where does battery recycling come from?
Most of the study's data for battery recycling came from Redwood Materials in Nevada – North America's largest industrial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility – which benefits from the western U.S.'s cleaner energy mix, which includes hydropower, geothermal, and solar. Transportation is also a crucial factor.
Can battery recycling help reduce supply insecurity?
On a large scale, recycling could also help relieve the long-term supply insecurity – physically and geopolitically – of critical battery minerals. Lithium-ion battery recyclers source materials from two main streams: defective scrap material from battery manufacturers, and so-called “dead” batteries, mostly collected from workplaces.
Lithium-ion battery recyclers source materials from two main streams: defective scrap material from battery manufacturers, and so-called “dead” batteries, mostly collected from workplaces. The recycling process extracts lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, and aluminum from these sources.