Circular economy strategies for lithium-ion battery recycling from electric vehicles: Pathways toward achieving SDG 12.5

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are increasingly becoming a vital part of electric vehicles (EVs) and are now in widespread use across the globe, which has led to the need for sustainable end-of-life battery management. EVs help to lower tailpipe emissions but the lifecycle of the battery must be handled responsibly from its production to use, reuse, and recycling to be environmentally sustainable. The increase in the number of spent LIBs creates environmental problems arising from the production of hazardous waste, but also a potential for recovering metals (e.g. Li, Co, Ni, Mn) which enables a more efficient utilization of resources and less reliance on primary metal production. In this context, strategies of circular economy can be very important to reach the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.5 goal of reducing waste, the recovery of materials, reusing materials and managing them responsibly. This review endeavors to analyze the current status of EV LIBs recycling technologies by combining LCA, end of life (EoL) battery management, pretreatment technologies and advanced technologies, such as pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical and direct recycling systems. The review also examines second-life applications of retired EV batteries for stationary energy storage and highlights the emerging trend of the use of artificial intelligence and data-driven methods in battery state of health estimation, second-life suitability assessment, battery recycling pathway selection and process optimization. A comparative evaluation of the available recycling technologies is presented considering aspects of resource recovery efficiency, environmental impact, technological maturity and industrial scale. Finally, the review identifies the key technological, economic and policy challenges currently hindering the scale-up and adoption of circular battery management systems, and outlines future research directions to address these challenges and enhance the contribution of lithium-ion battery recycling to the SDG 12.5 and to building a sustainable circular economy.