Urban mining of lithium-ion batteries in Australia: Current state and future trends

With declining ore grades and increasing waste volumes, lithium-ion battery (LIB) wastes are increasingly considered valuable for urban mining for metal recovery and re-use. In Australia, LIB is not classified as hazardous, despite having significant human and environmental health risks if handled and disposed of improperly. Unlike in Europe and Asia, regulations or policies to enforce or encourage product stewardship are lacking, with small recycling schemes targeting only consumer behaviour, and voluntary actions of manufacturers and distributors. Although manual sorting and dismantling of LIB waste occur onshore, the valuable components are shipped overseas for processing due to limited onshore capacity to recover the inherent metal values. In this paper, LIB recycling in Australia is reviewed, considering the projections of LIB waste generation, identification of future trends, opportunities and potential for innovation for LIB recycling in Australia. Key gaps surrounding materials tracking, waste generation and fate and technology design need to be addressed to support the development of the industry and to support the use of primary minerals and materials in Australia.