“The pace at which we’re expanding the industry is quite alarming,” states Paul Anderson from the University of Birmingham.
He refers to the market for electric vehicles in Europe.
By 2030, the EU aims to have 30 million electric vehicles on European roads.
“It’s unprecedented to achieve such a rapid growth for an entirely new product,” notes Dr. Anderson, who is also the co-director of the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials.
Although electric vehicles (EVs) do not emit carbon dioxide while in operation, he expresses concerns about what occurs when they reach the end of their life, particularly regarding the batteries.
“In 10 to 15 years, when many will be nearing the end of their lifespan, it’s crucial that we establish a recycling industry,” he emphasizes.
While most components of EVs share similarities with those of traditional vehicles, the primary distinction lies in the battery. Traditional lead-acid batteries are commonly recycled, but this is not the case for the lithium-ion batteries utilized in electric cars.
EV batteries are significantly larger and heavier than those in conventional cars and consist of several hundred individual lithium-ion cells, all of which require dismantling. They contain hazardous materials and have a troubling propensity to explode if not disassembled properly.
“Currently, it’s challenging to obtain precise global figures on the percentage of lithium-ion batteries that are recycled, but the commonly cited figure is around 5%,” explains Dr. Anderson. “In certain regions, it’s even lower.”
Recent proposals from the European Union would hold EV suppliers accountable for ensuring their products aren’t simply discarded at the end of their useful life, and manufacturers are already beginning to take responsibility.
For instance, Nissan is now repurposing old batteries from its Leaf models in the automated guided vehicles that transport parts to workers in its factories.
Volkswagen is undertaking similar initiatives but has also recently opened its first recycling facility in Salzgitter, Germany, and intends to recycle up to 3,600 battery systems annually during the pilot phase.
“As a result of the recycling process, various materials are recovered. Initially, we focus on cathode metals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, and manganese,” states Thomas Tiedje, head of planning for recycling at Volkswagen Group Components.
“Dismantled parts of the battery systems, like aluminum and copper, are returned to established recycling streams.”
Meanwhile, Renault has begun recycling all of its electric car batteries, although currently, this only amounts to a few hundred each year. This is achieved through a collaboration with the French waste management company Veolia and the Belgian chemical firm Solvay.
“We aim to capture 25% of the recycling market. We want to sustain this level of reach, which should sufficiently cover Renault’s needs,” says Jean-Philippe Hermine, Renault’s VP for strategic environmental planning.
“This is a very open initiative; it’s not just about recycling Renault batteries but all batteries, including production waste from battery manufacturing plants.”
The topic is also gaining attention from scientific organizations such as the Faraday Institution, whose ReLiB project seeks to enhance the recycling of EV batteries and streamline the process.
“We envision a more efficient and cost-effective industry in the future, moving away from some of the existing processes that can be scaled up but are not very effective,” states Dr. Anderson, who leads the project.
At present, for example, a substantial portion of a battery’s material is reduced during recycling to something known as black mass—a mixture of lithium, manganese, cobalt, and nickel—which requires further, energy-intensive processing to recover the materials in a usable state.
Manually dismantling fuel cells permits more efficient retrieval of these materials, yet it presents its own set of challenges.
“In certain regions, such as China, health and safety regulations, as well as environmental standards, are much less stringent, and the working conditions would be unacceptable in a Western context,” explains Gavin Harper, a research fellow at the Faraday Institution.
“Furthermore, the higher cost of labor complicates the economic feasibility of this undertaking in the UK.”
He suggests that automation and robotics could be the solution: “If we can automate the process, we can mitigate some of the risks and enhance economic efficiency.”
Indeed, there are compelling economic reasons for enhancing the recyclability of EV batteries—not least the fact that many of the elements used are scarce in Europe and the UK.
“You face the waste management issue on one side, but on the other side, you have a significant opportunity since the UK lacks indigenous sources for many manufacturing materials,” says Dr. Harper.
“There’s a little lithium in Cornwall, but generally, we face challenges regarding availability.”
From the perspective of a manufacturer, recycling old batteries is the safest method to guarantee a reliable supply of new ones.
“As a manufacturer and as Europeans, we must ensure the sourcing of these strategic materials essential for mobility and industry,” states Mr. Hermine.
“We lack access to these materials outside the realm of recycling – the end-of-life battery represents urban mining in Europe.”
When batteries reach the end of their life, they leave behind a problematic residue. The troublesome “black mass” is a hazardous, shredded mixture derived from the interior of battery cells that have outlived their usefulness.
“That’s about as close as we go,” cautions Benjamin Wickham, director of process chemistry at startup Altilium Metals. I had approached a ton of this substance at the battery recycling company’s test lab located in Tavistock, near Dartmoor National Park.
This dark powder, along with the valuable metals contained within it, will become increasingly crucial in the effort to decarbonise Britain’s economy as electric vehicles become more prevalent. With an estimated 11 million tonnes of used lithium-ion batteries predicted to require recycling globally by 2030, this sector could represent significant business growth.
Currently, electric cars tend to be more expensive to purchase than petrol or diesel vehicles. This higher cost is primarily due to the necessity of expensive metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, as opposed to the iron, aluminum, and oil used in constructing and powering internal combustion engines.
The extraction of these minerals, combined with an energy-intensive manufacturing process, results in the production of a new electric vehicle generating more carbon emissions than a comparable petrol or diesel vehicle. However, this disregards the large-scale extraction of fossil fuels required to operate internal combustion engines and the inevitable carbon emissions they produce.
In the case of electric cars, very little environmental loss occurs. Furthermore, according to Wickham, recycling batteries from 100,000 vehicles could provide up to £350 million worth of new materials.
As car manufacturers must eventually reduce net emissions from vehicle production to zero, the vision of a circular model that transforms old batteries into new ones is viewed as “more of a necessity than an opportunity,” asserts David Bott, head of innovation at the Society of Chemical Industry. “At the end of its lifespan, a battery is merely a slightly degraded version of its original form. You simply relocate the electrons.”
Christian Marston, Altilium’s chief technology officer and co-founder, estimates that by around 2040, the industry could source as much as 40% of its lithium from recycling, thereby minimizing the demand for harmful, energy-intensive mining. Recycling could lead to savings of approximately 38% of the carbon emissions and 35% of the costs associated with mining equivalent materials.
“The metal can be continuously recycled virtually indefinitely,” remarks Marston. “Our goal is complete battery circularity. We view EV batteries as concentrated ore.”
Altilium has secured £3 million in grant funding from the UK government to establish its center in Tavistock, where it aims to demonstrate to investors that its processes can yield chemicals pure enough for direct reuse in battery production.
Lithium prices surged in 2021, and some analysts are warning of an impending shortage of this lightweight metal due to the escalating global demand for batteries. Sarah Colbourn, a senior analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, anticipates “supply shortages and a restricted market.” However, the growing interest in battery recycling also has geopolitical implications: Europe and the US aim to reduce their reliance on materials sourced from China.
“The primary motivation in North America and Europe will stem from the realization that recycling can provide a supply of these materials,” states Colbourn.
Currently, China represents over 70% of battery recycling capacity. However, US and European companies are racing to close this gap and stand to benefit from a competition for green subsidies. In the US, Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla executive JB Straubel, recently received a conditional commitment from the US government for a $2 billion loan to support the establishment of a new facility in Nevada. Other US startups focused on boosting capacity include Ascend Elements, Cirba Solutions, and Li-Cycle. In the EU, the Belgian materials company Umicore has the capability to recycle 7,000 tonnes annually and is in search of a location to set up a larger facility.
“There is a significant amount of activity, funding, and movement occurring in Europe,” noted Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles at the campaign group Transport & Environment. “What we currently lack is a reliable commercial-scale recycling capacity.”
The technology used for recycling batteries is relatively well-established, involving shredding the cells and then separating the plastic that contained the minerals. Following this, two primary recovery methods are employed: pyrometallurgy, which uses heat to extract metals but cannot process lithium (the key component in the battery’s anode) or graphite (carbon layers from the cathode); and hydrometallurgy, which employs acids in water to leach out the metals.
Altilium claims that lab tests indicate its method can recover 95% of useful materials, although its effectiveness on an industrial scale remains uncertain. Marston asserts that its location in the historic tin mining town of Tavistock in west Devon presents an opportunity to establish a more sustainable and modern method of resource extraction. Next year, it plans to begin processing around 100 tonnes of black mass, which is enough to service approximately 300 vehicles.
However, the company intends to develop a significantly larger production facility in Teesside, possibly benefiting from tax incentives. It asserts that, if successful, this could generate between 100 and 200 high-skilled jobs by 2025, capable of processing 150,000 car batteries annually, or 50,000 tonnes of black mass.
The site and investment have yet to be secured, but Altilium holds an advantage over some startups: the family of co-founder and CEO Kamran Mahdavi already owns an old copper recovery facility in Bulgaria that will be upgraded to handle battery materials.
The Altilium project in Teesside has garnered support from Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley. Similarly, Green Lithium, a startup funded by commodities trader Trafigura, has chosen the area for a plant focused on refining virgin lithium.
By 2030, there will be a significant number of electric cars with failing batteries in both the UK and Europe, even as the prospects for gigafactories in the UK appear dim following the collapse of Britishvolt in January. Poliscanova advocates that the EU and UK should create regulations to prevent the export of battery materials to China and instead foster a domestic industry.
“Rather than allocating more funds to research, we should focus on scaling up,” she states. “We require policies to enable companies to accelerate their progress and transition beyond laboratory settings.”
Why recycling is essential for sustainability
The production of EV batteries is an energy-efficient process that emits greenhouse gases. If these batteries are not disposed of properly, it may undermine the positive environmental impact associated with driving electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle batteries also contain hazardous materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. If they are disposed of in landfills, these substances can infiltrate the soil and groundwater, creating severe environmental risks. However, by recycling these batteries, the toxic materials can be reused in manufacturing new batteries, which helps to reduce the need for new mining.
Recycling EV batteries poses significant challenges.
Despite ongoing efforts, the recycling rates for EV batteries over the past decade have been disappointing. This is due to a clear demand for recycling, yet the current EV battery recycling framework is far from optimal. Several obstacles exist, including complex designs, diverse chemistries, and the absence of standardized recycling methods.
The most significant hurdle is that the existing recycling procedures are intricate and costly. Geographical variances in recycling infrastructure complicate logistics, rendering the entire process inefficient and expensive. Disassembling batteries necessitates specialized facilities and skilled labor, which increases costs. Additionally, fluctuating prices of recycled materials often make the extraction of new ones more financially attractive.
Without strong economic incentives or regulatory support for recycling, the industry struggles to advance sustainable disposal and reuse practices for batteries.
How businesses are confronting the issue
Numerous companies and organizations are diligently working to address these challenges and enhance the recycling rates of EV batteries. For example, Nissan debuted its first electric vehicle, the LEAF, in 2010 and started preparing for its battery’s end-of-life shortly thereafter. Nissan formed a partnership with Sumitomo Corporation to establish 4R Energy Corp., which focuses on repurposing lithium-ion batteries.
4R Energy employs innovative technologies to assess a pack of 48 EV modules simultaneously, diminishing the assessment duration from two weeks to a single day. This collaboration aims to ensure that each EV battery realizes its full potential, embodying the principle of “Reuse, Resell, Refabricate, and Recycle.” Furthermore, Volkswagen operates a recycling facility in Salzgitter, Germany, with plans to recover up to 3,600 battery systems annually.
Another promising strategy to make EV batteries more sustainable is to provide them a second life. When an EV battery is no longer fit for vehicle use, it can still be repurposed for alternative applications. For instance, Betteries, a Berlin-based company, utilizes EV batteries to develop new energy sources, generating up to ten second-life ‘betteries’ from a single standard EV battery. These repurposed batteries can serve in smaller applications such as forklifts or energy storage systems.
The next phase in enhancing EV battery recycling will require investment and collaboration among governments and industry stakeholders. Curtiss, a researcher at the Argonne National Laboratory, suggests that with sufficient funding, the development of innovative technologies such as lithium-air batteries could transform the EV industry. These batteries offer the promise of extended range and reduced weight, fundamentally changing our approach to EV battery recycling in the future.
Moving Toward a More Sustainable Future
The journey to effective EV battery recycling presents many challenges, but it is essential for both the sustainability of the electric vehicle industry and the environment. Through innovative technologies, second-life applications, and collaborative efforts, we can make significant advancements in recycling rates and minimize the environmental impact of EV batteries.
Understanding and addressing the complexities of EV battery recycling is vital for achieving a greener future. By investing in research and development, supporting innovative recycling methods, and fostering collaboration within the industry, we can fully realize the green promise of electric vehicles.
The battery in an electric vehicle is frequently dismissed as mobile hazardous waste by proponents of the combustion engine. At the specialized company Duesenfeld, we have managed to challenge this notion – battery recycling effectively reaches deep within the cell. Ultimately, it is a matter of political action to establish a regulatory framework for a recycling loop.
Batteries are composed of an array of materials: steel, alloys, lithium, copper, cobalt, and nickel. Additionally, there are plastics used for insulation and liquid electrolytes. This results in a heavy mix that can weigh several hundred kilograms per vehicle. Moreover, this mix may hold value in the future. Therefore, creating an industrial recycling network is essential, not just for ecological conservation and resource management but also for long-term cost effectiveness.
It can take many years for the traction battery of an electric car to reach the end of its lifecycle, particularly when considering refurbishment and secondary usage, such as serving as stationary storage systems. Eventually, the recycling of the vital components of an electric vehicle will become significant. Thus, the aim of recycling should be to achieve the highest possible recovery and reuse efficiency.
Those familiar with electric mobility are aware of the heated discussions and unfounded claims surrounding lithium-ion batteries. It’s true that working with these batteries is not straightforward or entirely safe, as anyone managing substantial energy must exercise caution. Christian Hanisch, the managing director, partner, and visionary at Duesenfeld, recognized this reality. Our parent site electrive.net’s editorial team recently visited the recycling facility located a mere 13 kilometers from Volkswagen’s battery production site in Braunschweig, Germany.
The mobile recycling technology employed by Duesenfeld significantly reduces logistics costs. On one hand, the company exemplifies the current state of recycling, with some procedures mirroring those of the Belgian industry leader, Umicore. However, Hanisch has made notable advancements: the result is a significantly lower energy requirement, improved CO2 emissions balance, high recycling efficiency, and the capability to implement mobile recycling technology. This decentralized recovery is advantageous, particularly in saving the high logistics costs caused by the hazardous nature of the recycling process (batteries with high voltage are classified as dangerous goods).
At Duesenfeld, the team from electrive.net observed the disassembly of several BMW i3 batteries. Initially, these batteries must be fully discharged with the battery management system turned off for safety reasons. Notably, the residual energy is redirected to support the facility. After discharging, workers manually dismantle the batteries, and until this stage, the process is similar to other recycling firms. The sturdy outer shell with supporting structures, cables, the cooling circuit, and the modules can be disassembled using basic tools and placed into mesh boxes sorted by type.
It is at this point that Duesenfeld’s methods differ: many companies currently employ thermal decomposition using highly secure furnaces. At temperatures between 450 and 500 degrees, the cells’ valves rupture, causing the electrolyte to burn violently; however, this complicates the separation of the remaining materials.
They conduct test recycling with residue analysis. “We utilize mechanical methods instead of temperature and crush the entire module in a controlled inert environment,” Christian Hanisch of Duesenfeld explains. The shredding process takes place in a chamber filled with nitrogen gas, preventing unwanted chemical reactions. The pressure is then significantly decreased, which causes the liquid electrolyte to evaporate, later recovering it through condensation. Furthermore, when drying occurs, the electrolyte is funneled into a designated container.
The remnants of the battery module and cells are now dry and stable. Duesenfeld then employs established methods like magnetism or air separation to sort the remaining materials. The resulting components include chips from separator foil, ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals like alloy and lithium powder, as well as cathode residues containing nickel, manganese, and cobalt. According to Christian Hanisch of Duesenfeld, this black powder has the potential to be processed “through a hydrometallurgical method into lithium carbonate and sulfates of nickel, manganese, and cobalt.” In this way, a significant portion of the original battery can be reclaimed for further use. Duesenfeld has not disclosed which automotive manufacturer requested dismantling ten tons of batteries for testing, nor who will receive the evaluation results afterward, but they hinted that they are collaborating with prominent international brands.
Legal recycling quotas need to be significantly increased. It is part of the sometimes disappointing reality that, despite rising resource prices, recycling remains unprofitable. Producing new lithium or cobalt is still more economical. However, as demand is expected to surge dramatically and resource-exporting countries utilize their leverage, the EU ought to substantially elevate the minimum recycling threshold from the current 50% by weight.
China intends to mandate that manufacturers of electric vehicles are responsible for taking back and recycling used batteries. In the summer of 2018, China also identified 17 cities and regions to initiate a pilot program dedicated to the recycling of used electric vehicle batteries. In Europe, a pioneering technology consortium involving BMW, Northvolt, and Umicore has been formed to collaboratively develop a comprehensive value chain for electric car battery cells. Additionally, Audi and Umicore are working together to establish a closed-loop system for recycling high-voltage batteries from electric vehicles.
Conclusion
The significant resource consumption in traction batteries has long been recognized as an issue. One potential solution is the ongoing enhancement of cell chemistry and battery systems to achieve higher volumetric and gravimetric energy densities. Given the high costs of raw materials, this evolution is happening almost naturally. Concurrently, a recycling network must be established that operates at an industrial scale. This necessitates tightening the legal framework to not only safeguard the environment but also provide relief to the automotive industry and electric vehicle owners.
