The massive production and consumption of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) necessitate the development of end-of-life (EoL) recycling strategies to shape a sustainable LIBs life cycle. Pretreatment, which converts spent LIBs into black mass, represents a foundational stage in the recycling processes. However, our understanding of the impacts of pretreatment on the overall recycling performance and associated environmental footprint is limited. Here we develop operational unit-level models to evaluate the impacts of different pretreatment routes on industrial-scale LIB recycling. The pretreatment routes covered here include mechanical, thermal and chemical routes. We identify the mechanisms driving variability in materials recovery and environmental impacts across different pretreatment routes, cathode chemistries and regional contexts. Our high-resolution analysis reveals that pretreatment accounts for most materials losses and contributes to 16–38% of the environmental impact of LIBs recycling. By identifying key impact contributors, we further propose strategies for targeted process upgrade that could halve environmental impacts during the pretreatment stage. Additionally, this research provides comprehensive process inventories and bills of materials, facilitating further research initiatives, policy design and technology advancement in EoL LIB management, contributing to achieving circular economy in the LIBs sector.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.