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How are lithium batteries recycled?

Posted by Replacement Battery Store on Jan 29th 2019

How are lithium batteries recycled?

The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is an opportunity to obtain raw materials.

There is an existing threat to the availability of lithium needed to produce this type of batteries. This threat redirects attention to ensuring a continuous supply of materials needed for the green revolution through reuse and recycling of batteries.

Lithium is consumed in sectors such as construction, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, and glass, and also in the automotive industry.

The recycling of lithium-ion is a major topic in the automotive industry. The rising popularity of hybrid cars is leading to the demand for lithium in the world.

In the future, the recycling of lithium-ion batteries is expected to be one for the main sources of lithium. Potential fluctuations in lithium prices will affect the overall sales prices of cars.

Hence, recycling is expected to be one of the means to hedge uncertain and potential price fluctuations due to geopolitical due to or other types of barriers.

(*Hedging in the economy means a financial transaction in a market to reduce the risk of losing another market.)

There are a number of challenges that will probably affect the supply of lithium in the future.

Manufacturers are looking for ways to overcome lithium dependence by re-using lithium batteries in other applications and by recycling batteries after they have completed their lifecycle.

Batteries account for only about a quarter of the current lithium consumption, which is expected to reach about 40% by 2020.

However, there is no economic reasoning behind to recycling batteries. Recycled lithium has up to five times the price of lithium produced by the cheapest salt water process. Recycling companies are not competitive to extract lithium from the slag or compete for equipment manufacturers to buy at higher prices than recyclers.

(*Slag - A mixture of a waste from the melting of the ores.)

Lithium is 100% recyclable.

The automotive battery recycling market is mainly influenced by the used technology in the products they offer. Therefore, the key differentiating factor is the price - in a competitive environment, it reduces the cost-effectiveness of recycling companies.

The main challenge that obstructs the industry, is the long-term nature of the financial investments required by the market participants to develop specialized waste disposal services.

The increasing production and consumption of lithium batteries result in the need for recycling. Recycling is inevitable from an environmental, economic and health point of view.