Impact Analysis of Different Recycling Pathways for Lithium-Containing Waste on the Carbon Footprint of Products with Recycled Lithium

With the gradual implementation of the EU Battery Regulation and the DBP (Digital battery passport), it has become critical to determine the carbon footprint of lithium-ion battery products that contain recycled lithium resources. However, the diversity of recycling pathways substantially increases the complexity of carbon footprint accounting and DBP construction for recycled lithium batteries. This paper proposes a carbon activity based granular allocation and integration mechanism. Built on organizational operational data in EIS (Enterprise information systems) (ERP (Enterprise resource planning)/MES (Manufacturing execution system)/SCADA (Supervisory control and data acquisition), etc.) and using carbon activities as the linkage for mapping, the mechanism supports the acquisition and sound allocation of product carbon data, thereby improving the availability of carbon data and the rationality of allocation throughout the accounting process, and enabling more robust product carbon footprint calculations. Across different recycling routes, the carbon footprint results for recycled lithium resources can differ by more than 65%. When considering spodumene as the lithium source, mixing primary and recycled lithium carbonate in varying proportions can lead to up to a tenfold difference in the carbon footprint of products containing recycled lithium. Therefore, precisely tracing the carbon emission activities associated with different lithium sources is crucial for enhancing the accuracy of carbon footprint accounting, promoting the sustainable development of lithium resources, and meeting the requirements of the new Battery Regulation and the DBP.