Ever-growing global energy needs and environmental damage have motivated the pursuit of sustainable energy sources and storage technologies. As attractive energy storage technologies to integrate renewable resources and electric transportation, rechargeable batteries, including lead–acid, nickel–metal hydride, nickel–cadmium, and lithium-ion batteries, are undergoing unprecedented rapid development. However, the intrinsic toxicity of rechargeable batteries arising from their use of toxic materials is potentially environmentally hazardous. Additionally, the massive production of batteries consumes numerous resources, some of which are scarce. It is therefore essential to consider battery recycling when developing battery systems. Here, we provide a systematic overview of rechargeable battery recycling from a sustainable perspective. We present state-of-the-art fundamental research and industrial technologies related to battery recycling, with a special focus on lithium-ion battery recycling. We introduce the concept of sustainability through a discussion of the life-cycle assessment of battery recycling. Considering the forecasted trend of a massive number of retired power batteries from the forecasted surge in electric vehicles, their repurposing and reuse are considered from economic, technical, environmental, and market perspectives. New opportunities, challenges, and future prospects for battery recycling are then summarized. A reinterpreted 3R strategy entailing redesign, reuse, and recycling is recommended for the future development of battery recycling.

Toward sustainable and systematic recycling of spent rechargeable batteries

As more renewable energy is developed, energy storage is increasingly important and attractive, especially grid-scale electrical energy storage; hence, finding and implementing cost-effective and sustainable energy storage and conversion systems is vital. Batteries of various types and sizes are considered one of the most suitable approaches to store energy and extensive research exists for different technologies and applications of batteries; however, environmental impacts of large-scale battery use remain a major challenge that requires further study. In this paper, batteries from various aspects including design features, advantages, disadvantages, and environmental impacts are assessed. This review reaffirms that batteries are efficient, convenient, reliable and easy-to-use energy storage systems (ESSs). It also confirms that battery shelf life and use life are limited; a large amount and wide range of raw materials, including metals and non-metals, are used to produce batteries; and, the battery industry can generate considerable amounts of environmental pollutants (e.g., hazardous waste, greenhouse gas emissions and toxic gases) during different processes such as mining, manufacturing, use, transportation, collection, storage, treatment, disposal and recycling. Battery use at a large scale or grid-scale (>50 MW), which is widely anticipated, will have significant social and environmental impacts; hence, it must be compared carefully with alternatives in terms of sustainability, while focusing on research to quantify externalities and reduce risk. Alternatives such as pumped hydro and compressed air energy storage must be encouraged because of their low environmental impact compared to different types of batteries.

Study of energy storage systems and environmental challenges of batteries

On the sustainability of lithium ion battery industry – A review and perspective

This review paper discusses the available literature on end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) from a waste management standpoint. The amount of LIBs entering the waste stream has increased in recent years because of their growing prevalence in electronic devices and vehicles. The electric vehicle (EV) industry, in particular, is expected to create a high demand for LIBs and this paper has identified them as a major contributor to the LIB waste stream in the near future. Waste LIBs exhibit many hazardous characteristics, such as the ability to spontaneously ignite and/or release hazardous chemicals under landfill conditions. The authors review the current findings with regards to their hazardous properties and present potential solutions to help mitigate these problems. One major solution is to manage LIBs as a hazardous or universal waste, which would entail special regulations for this waste stream. While lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries are often regulated as a hazardous or universal waste, most countries, such as the U.S., currently manage LIBs as a general solid waste. However, it may be plausible to consider these types of batteries as a hazardous or universal waste because they have frequently exceeded federal and state regulatory thresholds for certain metals, such as lead. This paper also identifies recycling as another major solution for end-of-life LIB management. Based on life cycle impact assessment studies, recycling certain types of LIBs results in a lower resource depletion potential and less air emissions than a cradle-to-grave management scenario.

A review on the growing concern and potential management strategies of waste lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are currently one of the most important electrochemical energy storage devices, powering electronic mobile devices and electric vehicles alike. However, there is a remarkable difference between their rate of production and rate of recycling. At the end of their lifecycle, only a limited number of LIBs undergo any recycling treatment, with the majority go to landfills or being hoarded in households. Further losses of LIB components occur because the the state-of-the-art LIB recycling processes are limited to components with high economic value, e.g., Co, Cu, Fe, and Al. With the increasing popularity of concepts such as “circular economy” (CE), new LIB recycling systems have been proposed that target a wider spectrum of compounds, thus reducing the environmental impact associated with LIB production. This review work presents a discussion of the current practices and some of the most promising emerging technologies for recycling LIBs. While other authoritative reviews have focused on the description of recycling processes, the aim of the present was is to offer an analysis of recycling technologies from a CE perspective. Consequently, the discussion is based on the ability of each technology to recover every component in LIBs. The gathered data depicted a direct relationship between process complexity and the variety and usability of the recovered fractions. Indeed, only processes employing a combination of mechanical processing, and hydro- and pyrometallurgical steps seemed able to obtain materials suitable for LIB (re)manufacture. On the other hand, processes relying on pyrometallurgical steps are robust, but only capable of recovering metallic components.

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A critical review of lithium-ion battery recycling processes from a circular economy perspective

https://www.batteryrecycling.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Environmental_effects_Anna_Boyden_ABRI.pdf

Anna Boyden

Papers

The Environmental Impacts of Recycling Portable Lithium-Ion Batteries