Battery recycling methods

Currently, we know three main methods of recovering materials from used lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars. Let’s take a closer look at them. 

Pyrometallurgical  recycling – in this process, valuable metals that are components of batteries are subjected to high-temperature treatment, which allows recovering used materials in the form of an alloy of specific metals.

Hydrometallurgical recycling – in this case, the elements are leached and then, thanks to physicochemical reactions, they are captured from the resulting solution.

Partial recycling – the process of partial recovery of materials from the battery with the preservation of part of the battery cathode and its regeneration.

All these methods are already known to the world today, but we still have a lot of work to do in terms of energy efficiency of various battery recycling technologies.

Ensuring the proper recycling process of lithium-ion batteries is not only an environmental issue, but also an opportunity to obtain valuable raw materials that can be reused in future production processes. Therefore, continuing research into more advanced battery recycling technologies will be crucial for the future development of electric mobility.