Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chain
The demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has surged in recent years, owing to their excellent electrochemical performance and increasing adoption in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. As a result, the expectation is that the primary supply of LIB materials (e.g., lithium, cobalt, and...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AIMS Press
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Clean Technologies and Recycling |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/ctr.2021008?viewType=HTML |
| _version_ | 1811195875991486464 |
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| author | Majid Alipanah Apurba Kumar Saha Ehsan Vahidi Hongyue Jin |
| author_facet | Majid Alipanah Apurba Kumar Saha Ehsan Vahidi Hongyue Jin |
| author_sort | Majid Alipanah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has surged in recent years, owing to their excellent electrochemical performance and increasing adoption in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. As a result, the expectation is that the primary supply of LIB materials (e.g., lithium, cobalt, and nickel) will be insufficient to satisfy the demand in the next five years, creating a significant supply risk. Value recovery from spent LIBs could effectively increase the critical materials supply, which will become increasingly important as the number of spent LIBs grows. This paper reviews recent studies on developing novel technologies for value recovery from spent LIBs. The existing literature focused on hydrometallurgical-, pyrometallurgical-, and direct recycling, and their advantages and disadvantages are evaluated in this paper. Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment have quantified the economic and environmental benefits of LIB reuse over recycling, highlighting the research gap in LIB reuse technologies. The study also revealed challenges associated with changing battery chemistry toward less valuable metals in LIB manufacturing (e.g., replacing cobalt with nickel). More specifically, direct recycling may be impractical due to rapid technology change, and the economic and environmental incentives for recycling spent LIBs will decrease. As LIB collection constitutes a major cost, optimizing the reverse logistics supply chain is essential for maximizing the economic and environmental benefits of LIB recovery. Policies that promote LIB recovery are reviewed with a focus on Europe and the United States. Policy gaps are identified and a plan for sustainable LIB life cycle management is proposed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:49:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e796a94201c041a29d72c47a88bedab7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2770-4580 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:49:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | AIMS Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clean Technologies and Recycling |
| spelling | doaj.art-e796a94201c041a29d72c47a88bedab72022-12-22T03:54:46ZengAIMS PressClean Technologies and Recycling2770-45802021-12-011215218410.3934/ctr.2021008Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chainMajid Alipanah 0Apurba Kumar Saha 1Ehsan Vahidi2Hongyue Jin 31. Department of System and Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, 1127 E. James E. Rogers Way, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States1. Department of System and Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, 1127 E. James E. Rogers Way, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States2. Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 89557, United States1. Department of System and Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, 1127 E. James E. Rogers Way, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United StatesThe demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has surged in recent years, owing to their excellent electrochemical performance and increasing adoption in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. As a result, the expectation is that the primary supply of LIB materials (e.g., lithium, cobalt, and nickel) will be insufficient to satisfy the demand in the next five years, creating a significant supply risk. Value recovery from spent LIBs could effectively increase the critical materials supply, which will become increasingly important as the number of spent LIBs grows. This paper reviews recent studies on developing novel technologies for value recovery from spent LIBs. The existing literature focused on hydrometallurgical-, pyrometallurgical-, and direct recycling, and their advantages and disadvantages are evaluated in this paper. Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment have quantified the economic and environmental benefits of LIB reuse over recycling, highlighting the research gap in LIB reuse technologies. The study also revealed challenges associated with changing battery chemistry toward less valuable metals in LIB manufacturing (e.g., replacing cobalt with nickel). More specifically, direct recycling may be impractical due to rapid technology change, and the economic and environmental incentives for recycling spent LIBs will decrease. As LIB collection constitutes a major cost, optimizing the reverse logistics supply chain is essential for maximizing the economic and environmental benefits of LIB recovery. Policies that promote LIB recovery are reviewed with a focus on Europe and the United States. Policy gaps are identified and a plan for sustainable LIB life cycle management is proposed.https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/ctr.2021008?viewType=HTMLpyrometallurgyhydrometallurgyleachingdesign of experimentdisassemblyreverse supply chainlife cycle assessmenteconomic assessment |
| spellingShingle | Majid Alipanah Apurba Kumar Saha Ehsan Vahidi Hongyue Jin Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chain Clean Technologies and Recycling pyrometallurgy hydrometallurgy leaching design of experiment disassembly reverse supply chain life cycle assessment economic assessment |
| title | Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chain |
| title_full | Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chain |
| title_fullStr | Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chain |
| title_short | Value recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries: A review on technologies, environmental impacts, economics, and supply chain |
| title_sort | value recovery from spent lithium ion batteries a review on technologies environmental impacts economics and supply chain |
| topic | pyrometallurgy hydrometallurgy leaching design of experiment disassembly reverse supply chain life cycle assessment economic assessment |
| url | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/ctr.2021008?viewType=HTML |
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