Lithium-ion battery recycling processes: Research towards a sustainable course

There is a need to develop technology to enable a resource-efficient and economically feasible recycling system for lithium-ion batteries and thus assure the future supply of the component materials. Lithium-ion batteries are complex products, and designs and materials are still evolving, which makes planning for future recovery more challenging. Several processes for recycling are proposed or operating, and each has advantages and disadvantages. This paper compares these processes on technical and economic bases, elucidating differences in benefits as a function of cathode composition. Since none of the existing processes is ideal, research areas are suggested that could enable development of improved recycling methods. The most promising research areas are separation technologies.