The lithium battery industry has been under pressure to recycle used batteries for their scarce raw materials. Geo-political pressures have been piling on, as the world awakens to the fact that energy is a powerful strategic tool. But now Stanford University has established another compelling argument. We should promote lithium battery recycling for the sake of the environment too.
Lower Environmental Impact From Recycling Lithium Batteries
The Stanford University team compared mining with recycled lithium battery materials, and reached the following significant conclusions:
- Recycling emitted 58% to 81% less greenhouse gas.
- It used 72% to 88% less water, and 77% to 89% less energy.
- There was also less non-greenhouse gas airborne pollution.
The Stanford report confirms that beneficial recycling could also help relieve long-term supply insecurity too.
“Recently, I was in an Uber electric vehicle,” the senior study author recalls. “The driver asked me if EVs really are ‘good’ for the environment, because he recently had read that maybe they are not.
“I told him that EVs definitely are good for the environment, and we’re now finding new ways to make them even more so. This study, I think, tells us that we can design the future,” and do lithium battery recycling for the sake of the environment, and a healthier world.
It’s Not Only How – It’s Where We Recycle Lithium Batteries
The key to optimizing the benefits that Stanford University determined, depends on the sustainability of the electrical input. Most of Stanford University’s data came from a single battery recycling plant in Nevada. There, the electricity benefited from being partly hydro-power, geothermal, and solar.
Transport is another factor influencing the sustainability of lithium battery recycling for the environment. Much of the world’s supply of new cobalt from Democratic Republic of Congo is refined in China, before shipping onward.
Australia and Chile dominate the supply of lithium. The materials in lithium batteries could have traveled around the world before they reach our stores. Whereas used batteries could travel as little as 200 miles, to reach their nearest recycling plant in North America.
More Information
Battery Recycling Using Eutectic Solvents
Timely Reminder to Recycle All Batteries
Preview Image: Economic Drivers of Recycling
