Study says progress needed in lithium-ion battery recycling

A new study published in The Journal of the Indian Institute of Science looks into the contrasting recycling rates for lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries and finds a “need to adopt a circular economy (or zero waste) paradigm” for the latter.

The research was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program through the U.S. National Academies and led by Nikhil Gupta, a professor of mechanical and aerospace and civil and urban engineering at the New York University (NYU) Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn.

Batteries are in increasing demand because of their use in electric vehicles (EVs), consumer electronics and grid-scale storage, say Gupta and his three co-authors Kaushik Yanamandra, Dinesh Pinisetty and Atef Daoud. Noting the “clean energy” aspects of some of these applications, the authors cite recyclability as “a key component of how ‘dirty’ a technology is.”

Regarding batteries overall and lithium-ion batteries in particular, “as demand and usage increases, their recyclability and environmental impact will become even greater issues,” Gupta and his co-authors predict.

The study, titled “Recycling of Li-Ion and Lead Acid Batteries, a Review,” indicates that while lithium-ion batteries have higher energy density and can have a longer cycle life, less than 1 percent of them are being recycled because “the processes for recovering lithium for reuse in battery applications are still inefficient.”

By contrast, the authors say, lead-acid batteries are recycled at a more than 99 percent rate in the United States and European Union “because of factors such as separation at the source, availability of methods to economically recover materials and regulations supporting recycling.”

“Lead-acid batteries have been around for a long time, so recycling has greatly evolved,” Gupta says. “In fact, when one buys a new car battery, the old one must be returned for recycling— it’s a requirement. Because the architecture of lead-acid batteries has not changed substantially over the years, recyclers know how to do it quickly and efficiently.”

Co-author Pinisetty from the California State University system comments, “Lithium-ion batteries will continue to gain market share due to their significantly superior performance. However, the rapidly evolving chemistry and cell design of lithium-ion batteries pose major challenges for the recycling industry. Once the battery chemistry is standardized, it will become easier to develop effective recycling technologies.”

The study also finds that because of the smartphone and EV markets, use of lithium-ion batteries is rapidly increasing. However, overall growth of the energy storage device sector is sustaining the lead-acid battery market in terms of volume.

The entire 14-page study can be purchased by visiting this web page.