Battery (electricity)

Quantum mechanics

Engineering

Lithium (medication)

Ecology

Aerospace engineering

Biology

Automotive industry

Endocrinology

Power (physics)

Electric vehicle

Waste management

Mechanical engineering

Physics

Greenhouse gas

Organic chemistry

Scrap

Automotive engineering

Environmental science

Medicine

Chemistry

Nature

Rapid growth in the market for electric vehicles is imperative, to meet global targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to improve air quality in urban centres and to meet the needs of consumers, with whom electric vehicles are increasingly popular. However, growing numbers of electric vehicles present a serious waste-management challenge for recyclers at end-of-life. Nevertheless, spent batteries may also present an opportunity as manufacturers require access to strategic elements and critical materials for key components in electric-vehicle manufacture: recycled lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles could provide a valuable secondary source of materials. Here we outline and evaluate the current range of approaches to electric-vehicle lithium-ion battery recycling and re-use, and highlight areas for future progress. Processes for dismantling and recycling lithium-ion battery packs from scrap electric vehicles are outlined.

Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles