Battery recycling

Example

Use in Lemonergy

Distinguish recovered material from a qualified product.

This is a reference concept. No executable Lemonergy block has been verified for this term.

Connected concepts

Related concepts from the knowledge graph. Connections show context, not cause and effect. Hover or focus a linked term for its definition.

Black mass

The dark powder of mixed electrode materials left after end-of-life cells are discharged, shredded and separated from their casings, foils and separators. It is the traded intermediate that hydrometallurgical refiners buy.

Collection and recycling targets

The EU Battery Regulation’s quotas: portable batteries collected at 63 % by 2027 and 73 % by 2030, light-means-of-transport batteries at 51 % by 2028, with recycling efficiencies of 65 % for lithium-based batteries by 2025 and 70 % by 2030, and material recovery of 50 % of lithium by 2027 rising to 80 % by 2031.

Direct recycling

Recovering cathode material with its crystal structure intact and relithiating it for reuse, instead of breaking it down to metal salts. It promises lower energy and cost but must handle a mix of chemistries and ages.

EU Battery Regulation

The European law, in force since 2023, that governs batteries over their whole life: carbon-footprint declarations, recycled-content minimums, due diligence on raw materials, performance and durability requirements, removability, the battery passport and collection and recycling targets.

Hydrometallurgy

Recycling by dissolving black mass in acid and separating the metals as salts by precipitation and solvent extraction. It recovers lithium and gives battery-grade products, at the cost of chemical consumption and wastewater.

Pyrometallurgy

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.

References & further reading

Technical references

1. Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles

   Gavin Harper et al. · Nature · 2019

   Technical reference · Reuse, disassembly and mechanical, hydro-, pyro- and direct recycling routes.

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

2. Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling

   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

   Topic background · Battery construction, recycling routes and U.S. waste-management context.