Tremendous efforts are being made to develop electrode materials, electrolytes, and separators for energy storage devices to meet the needs of emerging technologies such as electric vehicles, decarbonized electricity, and electrochemical energy storage. However, the sustainability concerns of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and next-generation rechargeable batteries have received little attention. Recycling plays an important role in the overall sustainability of future batteries and is affected by battery attributes including environmental hazards and the value of their constituent resources. Therefore, recycling should be considered when developing battery systems. Herein, we provide a systematic overview of rechargeable battery sustainability. With a particular focus on electric vehicles, we analyze the market competitiveness of batteries in terms of economy, environment, and policy. Considering the large volumes of batteries soon to be retired, we comprehensively evaluate battery utilization and recycling from the perspectives of economic feasibility, environmental impact, technology, and safety. Battery sustainability is discussed with respect to life-cycle assessment and analyzed from the perspectives of strategic resources and economic demand. Finally, we propose a 4H strategy for battery recycling with the aims of high efficiency, high economic return, high environmental benefit, and high safety. New challenges and future prospects for battery sustainability are also highlighted.

Sustainable Recycling Technology for Li-Ion Batteries and Beyond: Challenges and Future Prospects.

A review of processes and technologies for the recycling of lithium-ion secondary batteries

Recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has attracted significant attention in recent years due to the increasing demand for corresponding critical metals/materials and growing pressure on the environmental impact of solid waste disposal. A range of investigations have been carried out for recycling spent LIBs to obtain either battery materials or individual compounds. For the effective recovery of materials to be enhanced, physical pretreatment is usually applied to obtain different streams of waste materials ensuring efficient separation for further processing. Subsequently, a metallurgical process is used to extract metals or separate impurities from a specific waste stream so that the recycled materials or compounds can be further prepared by incorporating principles of materials engineering. In this review, the current status of spent LIB recycling is summarized in light of the whole recycling process, especially focusing on the hydrometallurgy. In addition to understanding different hydromet...

A Critical Review and Analysis on the Recycling of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) applications in consumer electronics and electric vehicles are rapidly growing, resulting in boosting resources demand, including cobalt and lithium. So recycling of batteries will be a necessity, not only to decline the consumption of energy, but also to relieve the shortage of rare resources and eliminate the pollution of hazardous components, toward sustainable industries related to consumer electronics and electric vehicles. The authors review the current status of the recycling processes of spent LIBs, introduce the structure and components of the batteries, and summarize all available single contacts in batch mode operation, including pretreatment, secondary treatment, and deep recovery. Additionally, many problems and prospect of the current recycling processes will be presented and analyzed. It is hoped that this effort would stimulate further interest in spent LIBs recycling and in the appreciation of its benefits.

Nak Hyoung Kim

Papers

Development of a metal recovery process from Li-ion battery wastes