How energy and cost demanding is the process to recycle spent or failed lithium batteries to recover lithium into manufacturing new batteries ?

From years of experience, only about 25% of lithium batteries get spent;  most have a single cell failure that forces discarding the whole relatively good package.   Is a non-spent cell from such pack yielding better/more/easier recycled lithium than a truly spent one ?

What compounds are not recoverable into lithium in a spent battery ?  Does a failed cell contain 'better' lithium than a 'spent' one ? What about when recycling new unused/obsolete cells ?

The basic question is what is easier/profitable: mining lithium or processing existing used lithium batteries.

Recycling lithium-ion batteries is possible but still energy- and cost-demanding. The process involves collecting, dismantling, and treating the batteries, which requires special equipment, labor, and safety precautions. High temperatures or chemical treatments are used to extract valuable metals, and while lithium can be recovered, it's often less efficient and more costly than sourcing it from raw materials.

Hydrometallurgical methods are more effective for lithium recovery but involve expensive chemicals and create waste. Pyrometallurgical methods use a lot of energy and typically recover less lithium. Overall, recycled lithium is improving in quality, but due to the complexity and cost, it still struggles to compete with newly mined lithium.

Edited April 18, 2025Apr 18 by Phi for All
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