We are shifting our gears towards cleaner energy, and one of them is having more electric vehicles (EV). While EVs are good for their emissions when compared to fossil-fuel vehicles, their manufacturing has a negative environmental impact. 

Although the EVs don’t generate carbon emissions, the mining of metals for the batteries, large water, and potential unethical mining practices. 

As a response, there’s a growing new sector of tech companies with a goal to change lithium production through battery recycling. With this, all lithium-ion batteries from old electronics to electric cars can be processed and sent back into the battery manufacturing pipeline. 

After all, even when at the end of the battery’s lifespan, materials in it are still in their prime. CEO of Redwood Materials JB Straubel said, “They’re all still there. They don’t get degraded, they don’t get compromised—99% of those metals, or perhaps more, can be reused again and again and again. Literally hundreds, perhaps thousands of times.” 

Also, more EV manufacturers are more on board with the idea of battery recycling. For example, in May 2022, Tesla stated that it was going to increase its battery recycling capacity, although so far, the company’s seen only a few batteries returned.  

On the website, it read, “Extending the life of a battery pack is a superior option to recycling for both environmental and business reasons. For those reasons, before decommissioning a consumer battery pack and sending it for recycling, Tesla does everything it can to extend the useful life of each battery pack. 

“Any battery that is no longer meeting a customer’s needs can be serviced by Tesla at one of our Service Centers around the world. None of our scrapped lithium-ion batteries go to landfilling, and 100 per cent are recycled.” 

Is it lucrative? 

When we can get valuable materials from recycling facilities and prove that such materials are reusable, that will translate into them being more affordable and lucrative for the EV industry. 

Although profitability isn’t visible now, the global battery recycling market size is expected to grow. According to a report by Spherical Insights & Consulting, the market is to grow from $13.09 billion in 2021 to $41.08 billion by 2030. 

The reasons for this growth are clear: people are becoming more aware of the planet’s limited resources, like rare and precious earth metals. And, since there is demand for recycled products and reusability features of other common products we have now, there will be a growing demand for batteries, too. 

People know that the rising population will lead to an increasing consumption of resources like lead and lithium. Therefore, recycling materials and conserving natural resources while reducing negative environmental impact in the future is much more preferred. 

 

 

Benefits to the EV industry 

To give you examples of how the recycling works, let’s take a look at companies called Ascend Elements and American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) which recycle batteries.  

Ascend Elements collects old batteries and a large portion of battery manufacturing scrap, then funnels it into a facility. After the company sorts the materials, they either recycle or sell any waste, and never send it to a landfill. 

From there the company shred black mass in the batteries and use a process called “Hydro-to-Cathode.” It means that they convert the black mass into cathode active materials that go directly back into new battery constructions. 

Cathode materials in EV batteries are said to be the most carbon-intensive piece, therefore Ascend Elements may make batteries a lot more sustainable.  

Ascend Elements CEO Mike O’Kronley said, “We are able to reduce the carbon footprint of our cathode materials by over 90 percent.” 

On the other hand, the ABTC offers a different method that de-manufactures batteries through a selective extraction process. According to ABTC chief executive Ryan Melsert, the method works by targeting common “failure points” in the batteries that cause the materials to fall apart. 

Therefore, this avoids the usual chemically intensive processes used by other manufacturers, without furnaces or shredders. “We don’t have any operation that is at high temperature. We have no combustion anywhere on site,” Melsert added. 

The company then can recover small quantities of high-value material, but also medium-value materials that most recyclers rarely want.  

According to Melsert, ABTC is able to recover 70% of the battery by mass return it to the market. In the end, just like Ascend Element, the end products can go back into EV batteries. “We intentionally designed the process not to downcycle the material,” Melsert said. 

Still a challenge 

Despite the benefits mentioned, and theoretical profitability to the EV industry, there are still challenges about battery recycling—both Melsert and O’Kronley admit it. For instance, recycling is still limited by the amount of old or scrap battery material that they can collect.  

And, even though recycling companies want to do their jobs as efficient as they can, past and current battery designs make it expensive and energy-intensive to recover the elements, not to mention toxic chemicals that need proper management. 

 

 

As for now, shredding and grinding batteries into black mass, then burning them (pyrometallurgy) or chemically leaching them (hydrometallurgy) to separate the metals produce unwanted effects mentioned before. 

O’Kronley, however, believes that there’s a clear path to the future within a couple of decades. Around that time, there will have been more retired EVs as consumers will have traded them in for newer models. As a result, recycled batteries will be more in demand. 

“Once we get to maturity, we will certainly be at these very high recycling rates. There’s no technical reason that we can’t get there,” O’Kronley said. 

There’s still a glimmer of hope 

We all know what happens to technology and the human brain: they’re going to improve and evolve, maybe faster than we can imagine right now. 

Just a month ago, a team of scientists from California’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) stated that they found a new battery material for making cathodes and anodes called Quick-Release Binder. 

Scientists were able to use Quick-Release Binder to make electrodes, at about one-tenth the price of two of the most commonly used commercial binders. 

One of the scientists Chen Fang said, “[In our recent research] we demonstrated that the whole process is very easy at lab scale and we see no reason why it won’t work equally well at industrial scale.” 

What’s more, the material is applicable for batteries of all sizes, from pouch cells for tablets and cell phones to the extra-large batteries being deployed for grid storage. 

Then, ReCell, a consortium of national labs and leading technological universities supported by the Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies office, is concentrating research to make more efficient direct material recycling and better resource recovery. 

“Improving the economics of battery recycling will help incentivize those with batteries to bring them in for recycling instead of throwing them out. This will help increase collection rates and lower raw material costs so future batteries are even more affordable,” Recell said. 

 

Sources

https://www.greenbiz.com/article/battery-recycling-two-ways  

https://www.designnews.com/batteryenergy-storage/why-recycling-essential-battery-business  

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2023/03/tesla-battery-recycling-plan/  

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-battery-recycling-market-size-113000528.html