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

Waste Printed Circuit Boards recycling: an extensive assessment of current status

A review of current progress of recycling technologies for metals from waste electrical and electronic equipment

Understanding plastic degradation and microplastic formation in the environment: A review

Recycling of non-metallic fractions from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE): a review.

Occurrence of microplastics in landfill systems and their fate with landfill age.

The principle of separating pure metal from mixed metallic particles (MMPs) byvacuum metallurgy is that the vapor pressures of various metals at the same temperature are different As a result, the metal with high vapor pressure and low boiling point can be separated from the mixed metals through distillation or sublimation, and then it can be recycled through condensation under a certain condition. The vacuum metallurgy separation (VMS) of MMPs of crushed waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) has been studied in this paper. Theoretical analyses show that the MMPs (copper, zinc, bismuth, lead, and indium, for example) can be separated by vacuum metallurgy. The copper particles (0.15-0.20 mm) and zinc particles (<0.30 mm) were chosen to simulate the MMPs of crushed WPCBs. Experimental results show that the separated efficiency of zinc in the copper-rich particles achieves 96.19 wt % when the vacuum pressure is 0.01-0.10 Pa, the heating temperature is 1123 K, and the heating time is 105 min. Under this operation condition, the separated efficiency of zinc in the copper-rich particles from crushed WPCBs achieves 97.00 wt % and the copper purity increases from 90.68 to 99.84 wt %.

Application of Vacuum Metallurgy to Separate Pure Metal from Mixed Metallic Particles of Crushed Waste Printed Circuit Board Scraps

In recent era, more and more electric and electronic equipment wastes (e-wastes) are generated that contain both toxic and valuable materials in them. Most studies focus on the extraction of valuable metals like Au, Ag from e-wastes. However, the recycling of metals such as Pb, Cd, Zn, and organics has not attracted enough attentions. Vacuum metallurgy separation (VMS) processes can reduce pollution significantly using vacuum technique. It can effectively recycle heavy metals and organics from e-wastes in an environmentally friendly way, which is beneficial for both preventing the heavy metal contaminations and the sustainable development of resources. VMS can be classified into several methods, such as vacuum evaporation, vacuum carbon reduction and vacuum pyrolysis. This paper respectively reviews the state-of-art of these methods applied to recycling heavy metals and organics from several kinds of e-wastes. The method principle, equipment used, separating process, optimized operating parameters and recycling mechanism of each case are illustrated in details. The perspectives on the further development of e-wastes recycling by VMS are also presented.

State-of-the-Art of Recycling E-Wastes by Vacuum Metallurgy Separation

Reduction, detoxification and recycling of solid waste by hydrothermal technology: A review

Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are treated by crushing and electrostatic separation to obtain the copper-rich particles. However, the copper-rich particles contain a certain content of solder, which may cause Pb contamination if improperly treated. The separation behaviors of Pb from single solder and solder mixed with Cu particles under vacuum are studied in this work. Due to the presence of Cu particles in the copper-rich particles, it becomes much easier to separate Pb from mixed particles than from single solder. On the basis of the experiments, the rules and phenomena different from previous studies are concluded, including the multilayer evaporation effect, the formation of Cu–Sn intermetallic compound and so on. Mechanisms of these phenomena are also explored. Pb is separated and recovered from copper-rich particles of crushed WPCBs at 1123 K for 90 min under 0.1–1 Pa. The metals including Cu, Pb, Sn in WPCBs are all efficiently recovered. This work enriches separating rules for recovering Pb...

Lu Zhan

Papers

Occurrence of microplastics in landfill systems and their fate with landfill age.

Application of Vacuum Metallurgy to Separate Pure Metal from Mixed Metallic Particles of Crushed Waste Printed Circuit Board Scraps

State-of-the-Art of Recycling E-Wastes by Vacuum Metallurgy Separation

Reduction, detoxification and recycling of solid waste by hydrothermal technology: A review

Separating and Recovering Pb from Copper-Rich Particles of Crushed Waste Printed Circuit Boards by Evaporation and Condensation