{
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      "definition": "Recycling by smelting whole cells or modules in a furnace, which recovers nickel, cobalt and copper as an alloy but loses lithium, aluminium and graphite to the slag. It is robust to mixed feed and is often the first step before a hydrometallurgical finish.",
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        "black-mass",
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        "smelting"
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      "mentions": [
        "graphite",
        "cobalt"
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        "lede": "What happens to a battery after its first life: reuse, and the recycling routes that recover its materials, step by step.",
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        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Recovering lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and aluminium from end-of-life cells and production scrap. Scrap is today’s main feedstock; vehicle returns will dominate in the 2030s, and regulation now sets minimum recovery rates.",
        "related": [
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      "id": "term:smelting",
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          "alloy",
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        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Melting battery material in a furnace with fluxes so that cobalt, nickel and copper collect as a metal alloy or matte and the rest — lithium, aluminium, manganese — goes to the slag. The organic parts and graphite serve as fuel and reductant.",
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        "definition": "Layered carbon, the negative active material of nearly all lithium-ion cells. Lithium intercalates between its layers up to LiC₆, a theoretical 372 mAh/g, at a potential about 0.1 V above lithium metal.",
        "related": [
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        "example": {
          "title": "Compare matching mass bases",
          "text": "A graphite value per gram of active material cannot be directly compared with a value including binder, additive and foil."
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        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/graphite/",
        "mentions": [
          "milliampere-hour",
          "active-material"
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    },
    {
      "id": "term:cobalt",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Cobalt",
      "properties": {
        "id": "cobalt",
        "name": "Cobalt",
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The metal that stabilises layered-oxide cathodes, mined largely in the Democratic Republic of Congo under scrutiny for working conditions. Its price and ethics have driven the industry from LCO and NMC111 towards high-nickel and cobalt-free LFP.",
        "related": [
          "nmc",
          "lco",
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          "critical-raw-materials",
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        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/cobalt/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "reference:harper-recycling",
      "type": "Reference",
      "label": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
      "properties": {
        "title": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
        "publisher": "Nature",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1682-5",
        "type": "Review article",
        "scope": "Reuse, disassembly and mechanical, hydro-, pyro- and direct recycling routes.",
        "year": 2019,
        "authors": [
          "Gavin Harper et al."
        ],
        "accessed": "2026-10-27"
      }
    }
  ]
}