Batteries from cell phones, laptops and power tools, left unchecked in a landfill, will leach a number of chemicals into the ground, including lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel. They can also combust, which is why lithium-ion batteries must be transported in a plane's passenger compartment instead of with the unmonitored cargo.
One electric vehicle (EV) contains the equivalent of about 6,000 laptop batteries, and those materials aren't just harmful to put back into the planet, they're also harmful to extract, which is why the recycling of EV battery packs is so critical.
Battery recycling also happens to be big business, because with the latest updates to the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), automakers get double the tax credit for using EV batteries either made in the U.S. or recycled in the U.S.
More than 100 million EV battery packs are expected to be retired in the next decade. (A battery is deemed ready for retirement when it has less than 70 percent of its original capacity; for modern lithium-ion packs, reaching that level of deterioration usually takes 10 years or more.) The roughly 600,000 metric tons of lithium-ion battery waste expected from the first generation of EVs by 2025 is set to grow to 11 million metric tons worldwide by 2030.
While spent batteries are being retired, the demand for new lithium-ion batteries is skyrocketing. It's predicted to increase by over 500 percent this decade, according to McKinsey & Company, from 700 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2022 to around 4,700 GWh in 2030.
Recycling used packs could reduce global demand for copper by 55 percent, for cobalt and nickel by 35 percent and for lithium by 25 percent, a 2021 report prepared for the University of Technology Sydney in Australia estimates.
Automakers are interested in the recycling process for several reasons, the first of which is carbon emissions. Recycled batteries output four times lower carbon emissions than new batteries over their life cycle, which leads to a 25-percent lower carbon-emissions footprint. Most of the carbon dioxide associated with EV batteries is released into the atmosphere when extraction companies are getting the lithium or cobalt out of the ground. Recyclers skip that step.
The other reason is the aforementioned tax credits. Automakers (and then buyers) get half of a $7,500 rebate for building an EV in the United States and the other half for sourcing the battery here, or from a country with which we are friendly.
Though China produces three-quarters of all lithium-ion batteries and possesses 70 percent of "production capacity" for cathodes and 85 percent for anodes, according to the International Energy Agency, those batteries and materials don't qualify for credits that come courtesy of the IRA rules. But no matter where the lithium and cobalt are originally from, recycled batteries are applicable.
In 2022, Volkswagen said it would collaborate with battery recycling company Redwood Materials, Inc. of Carson City, Nevada, to create a supply chain to recycle Volkswagen and Audi EV batteries in the United States. For that, Redwood will work directly with Volkswagen's network of about 1,000 dealers.
"The electric transformation means making commitments in many areas throughout our business. In addition to our robust lineup of fully electric Audi E-tron models available now, having like-minded partners like Redwood Materials in place to further reduce environmental impact throughout the lifecycle of electric vehicles is critical," Daniel Weissland, President, Audi of America, told Newsweek.
Redwood Materials' goal is to build a circular supply chain of EV batteries and increase supply while reducing the environmental impact and costs. Currently, the company recycles more than 10 GWh of lithium-ion batteries, the equivalent of 100,000 EV batteries, each year.
The material that comes to Redwood via automakers, technology companies and recycling centers is composed of end-of-life consumer devices, battery production scrap and electric vehicle batteries.
"The path to a more sustainable future requires innovative solutions. The partnership with Redwood Materials offers a groundbreaking vision for helping to ensure electric vehicles operate not only without tailpipe emissions, but with a renewable purpose," Spencer Reeder, director, Government Affairs and Sustainability, Audi of America, told Newsweek.
When batteries have been collected and received at Redwood's recycling facilities, they are first tested, discharged and disassembled. They then get shredded and separated to remove impurities like plastic.
After various screening and sorting steps using size, shape, magnetism, density and conductivity, the process yields the materials in a "black mass." The powder contains nickel, cobalt, lithium and graphite to be used again. It is then processed again either through hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical means.
Recyclers like Redwood Materials (which won a $2 billion conditional loan from the Department of Energy for a Nevada plant to make new batteries from recycled materials) and Canada-based Li-Cycle (which received a $375 million conditional DOE loan) then sell the materials on the open market.
One problem is that in China, Europe and the U.S., most of the battery material suitable for recycling still comes from consumer electronics cells and scrap generated from faulty batteries that don't pass quality control. Cell manufacturing scrap, the components that can't be used and are sent to recycling, is as high as 30 percent when a new battery factory launches, according to McKinsey.
Globally, production scrap will likely remain the primary source of battery materials for recycling until 2030, when end-of-life EV battery volumes will have grown to the point of overtaking them.
As for long-term plans, recyclers want automakers to consider battery designs that prioritize disassembly and recycling. Standardizing batteries, materials and cell design would also make recycling easier and more cost-effective.
About the writer
Jake Lingeman is the Managing Editor for the Autos team at Newsweek. He has previously worked for Autoweek, The Detroit ... Read more
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