If those metals can be recovered from used batteries at a large scale and more economically than from natural ore, the price of batteries and electric vehicles should drop. In addition to potential economic benefits, recycling could reduce the quantity of material going into landfills.
Cobalt, nickel, manganese, and other metals found in batteries can readily leak from the casing of buried batteries and contaminate soil and groundwater, threatening ecosystems and human health, says Zhi Sun, a specialist in pollution control at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Batteries can have negative environmental effects not just at the end of their lives but also long before they are manufactured.
For example, mining for some battery metals requires processing metal-sulfide ore, which is energy intensive and emits SO x that can lead to acid rain. Less reliance on mining for battery materials could also slow the depletion of these raw materials. Gaines and Argonne coworkers studied this issue using computational methods to model how growing battery production could affect the geological reserves of a number of metals through There are also political costs and downsides that recycling Li-ion batteries could help address.
Recycling batteries and formulating cathodes with a reduced concentration of cobalt could help lower the dependence on such problematic foreign sources and raise the security of the supply chain. Just as economic factors can make the case for recycling batteries, they also make the case against it.
Large fluctuations in the prices of raw battery materials, for example, cast uncertainty on the economics of recycling. Basically, if the price of cobalt drops, recycled cobalt would struggle to compete with mined cobalt in terms of price, and manufacturers would choose mined material over recycled, forcing recyclers out of business.
Another long-term financial concern for companies considering stepping into battery recycling is whether a different type of battery, such as Li air , or a different vehicle propulsion system, like hydrogen-powered fuel cells , will gain a major foothold on the electric-vehicle market in coming years, lowering the demand for recycling Li-ion batteries.
Battery chemistry also complicates recycling. Some Li-ion batteries use cathodes made of lithium cobalt oxide LCO. Others use lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide NMC , lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide, lithium iron phosphate, or other materials. And the proportions of the components within one type of cathode—for example, NMC—can vary substantially among manufacturers. Recyclers may need to sort and separate batteries by composition to meet the specifications of people buying the recycled materials, making the process more complicated and raising costs.
Battery structure further complicates recycling efforts. Li-ion batteries are compact, complex devices, come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and are not designed to be disassembled.
Each cell contains a cathode, anode, separator, and electrolyte. Anodes usually contain graphite, PVDF, and copper foil. Separators, which insulate the electrodes to prevent short circuiting, are thin, porous plastic films, often polyethylene or polypropylene.
The electrolyte is typically a solution of LiPF 6 dissolved in a mixture of ethylene carbonate and dimethyl carbonate. The components are tightly wound or stacked and packed securely in a plastic or aluminum case.
Large battery packs that power electric vehicles may contain several thousand cells grouped in modules. The packs also include sensors, safety devices, and circuitry that controls battery operation, all of which add yet another layer of complexity and additional costs to dismantling and recycling. All these battery components and materials need to be dealt with by a recycler to get at the valuable metals and other materials. Several large pyrometallurgy, or smelting, facilities recycle Li-ion batteries today.
The facilities are capital intensive, in part because of the need to treat the emission of toxic fluorine compounds released during smelting. Hydrometallurgy processing, or chemical leaching, which is practiced commercially in China, for example, offers a less energy-intensive alternative and lower capital costs.
One downside of traditional leaching methods is the need for caustic reagents such as hydrochloric, nitric, and sulfuric acids and hydrogen peroxide. Researchers running bench-scale studies have identified potential improvements to these recycling methods, but only a handful of companies run recycling tests on the methods at the pilot-plant scale. Scrap refers to off-spec cathode powder, trimmings, and other waste collected from battery manufacturing.
Battery Resourcers in Worcester, Massachusetts, runs a pilot plant that processes Li-ion batteries at a rate of up to roughly 0. Many current recycling methods yield multiple single-metal compounds that must be combined to make new cathode material. This mixed-metal cathode precursor simplifies battery preparation and could lower manufacturing costs.
Related: Metal prices challenge battery sector. One approach calls for removing the electrolyte with supercritical carbon dioxide, then crushing the cell and separating the components physically—for example, on the basis of density differences.
In principle, nearly all the components can be reused after this simple processing. In particular, because the method does not use acids or other harsh reagents, the morphology and crystal structure of the cathode materials remain intact, and the materials retain the electrochemical properties that make them valuable.
Gaines says more work is needed to implement this cost-saving approach. To that end, the team is developing robotic procedures for sorting, disassembling, and recovering valuable materials from Li-ion batteries.
Automation could also lead to enhanced separation of battery components, increasing their purity and value, he says. Although most of these strategies remain at an early stage of development, the need for them is growing. Contact the reporter. Learn More. You may order via phone, our website, fax, and email.
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Close Hide Forever. Coin Cells Sealed Lead Acid. With so many batteries available, it is often difficult to know how they should be properly disposed; can you toss it in the normal household garbage, or should it be taken to a hazardous waste location? To see a map of state battery laws, go to the Call2Recycle website. Skip to main content. Related Topics: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Contact Us. Find a Recycling Location Near You. E arth Call2Recycle. Used Lithium-Ion Batteries.
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. Alkaline and Zinc-Carbon. Button-Cell or Coin. These small, round batteries have historically contained silver, cadmium, mercury or other heavy metals as their main component. Today, the majority are made of lithium metal. These batteries are commonly used in products such as watches, hearing aids, car keyless entry remotes, medical devices and calculators.
Find a recycling location near you: Lithium single-use Button-cell or coin. Lithium Single-Use. These common batteries are made with lithium Li metal and are single-use and non-rechargeable They are used in products such as cameras, watches, remote controls, handheld games and smoke detectors. These batteries may be difficult to distinguish from common alkaline batteries, but may also have specialized shapes for specific equipment, such as some types of cameras and calculators.
These batteries are typically used in cordless power tools, cordless phones, digital and video cameras, two-way radios, bio-medical equipment and video cameras. They may look like single-use AA, AAA or other alkaline batteries or a battery pack shaped for specific tools.
Lithium-Ion Li-ion. Some Li-ion batteries are not easily removed from the product and can become problematic as a fire hazard if they are broken, bent or crushed. Commonly found in cellphones, cordless power tools, digital cameras and two-way radios. These batteries are not as common as they once were. Commonly found in digital cameras, wireless keyboards and small electronics. Also used for backup power in residential landline phones and uninterruptable power supplies for computers.
Lead-acid batteries may contain up to 18 pounds of lead and about one gallon of corrosive lead-contaminated sulfuric acid.
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