Life cycle comparison of industrial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling and mining supply chains

17 March 2023, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

Recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can supplement existing supplies of critical materials and improve the environmental sustainability of LIB supply chains. In this work, environmental intensities (greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, energy consumption) of industrial-scale production of battery-grade cathode materials from used LIBs are compared to the intensities of conventional mining supply chains. Refining mixed-stream LIBs into battery-grade materials reduces these environmental intensities by at least 55%. Electricity consumption is identified as the principal contributor to all LIB recycling environmental intensities, and different electricity sources can change greenhouse gas emissions up to eight times. Supply chain steps that precede refinement (material extraction and transport) contribute marginally to the environmental intensities of circular LIB supply chains (<5%), but are more significant in conventional supply chains (31%). This analysis disaggregates conventional and circular steps based on material extraction, transport, and industrial refinement operations to provide important insights for advancing sustainable LIB supply chains.

Keywords

circular economy
critical materials
hydrometallurgy
life cycle assessment
pyrometallurgy
reductive calcination

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.