Experimental and environmental impact of early-stage lithium recovery in lithium-ion battery recycling

In December 2019, the European Union announced the Green Deal as a growth strategy to ensure a resource-efficient and competitive economy. Based on this, in 2023 targets for battery recycling were formulated in a regulation. It is imperative to enhance both the recovery rate and the quality of the material to comply with this regulatory requirement. Two hydrometallurgical battery recycling processes for black mass from lithium-ion batteries with nickel manganese cobalt oxide 111 have been examined. The experimental investigation focuses on comparing early-stage lithium recovery (ESLR) process route, were lithium is leached in a first step with water from the black mass before acid leaching, with a reference route. Based on this analysis, an initial process simulation was developed in HSC SIM to generate data for life cycle assessment. Results show that the ESLR route increases lithium recovery to 61.9 % in experiments, with higher product quality. Simulation-based analysis showed a 5.7 % reduction in climate change impact per kg black mass treated compared to the reference route. Improved lithium recovery and quality reduced the climate impact of secondary lithium carbonate by 16 %, and by 37 % if wind power replaces grid electricity. Among sixteen impact categories evaluated, the ESLR route has lower impacts than the reference in thirteen categories.