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End-of-Life Management of Lithium-Ion Batteries
Citation:
Sahle-Demessie, Endalkac. End-of-Life Management of Lithium-Ion Batteries. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-23/194, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
With the increased use of battery technologies, the volume of used and decommissioned Li-ion batteries presents end-of-life management concerns. It could also be a source for resource recovery and secondary market opportunity. Li-ion battery-based clean technology could promote the transition to a circular economy by increasing the use of renewable energy, reducing waste and pollution, and keeping products and materials in use. Thus, recycling Li-ion batteries can reduce negative environmental impacts associated with the unsafe management of batteries, reduce resource constraints, and increase supply chain securities of precious and crucial materials. Technical, economic, social, and regulatory factors have been barriers to achieving a circular economy of batteries. The current standard practices of manual disassembly will be automated. There are technical gaps for efficient sorting and grading processes and designing batteries for recycling to assist in the easy disassembly of cells. Disassembling is followed by many approaches for recovering materials, including pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, short-loop, and direct. Furthermore, the state of different companies in EOL management of batteries, the state of barriers, and enablers are presented. The scope of this report is limited to current EOL management practices of Li-ion batteries, including recycling drivers, barriers, and enablers in the United States. However, the report may have partial information on the state-of battery management due to the fast pace of technological changes, regulatory landscape, and policy that have incentive reuse and recycling and sustainable management practices.
Description:
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (Li-ion batteries) have been in nearly every portable electronic device manufactured in the past decades, from laptops to smartphones to electric cars. The use of Li-ion batteries will grow further with the expected technological innovation and decreasing costs. This remarkable utilization of a rather new electronic storage technology has encountered several obstacles. There is a growing interest in the environmental impacts associated with Li-ion batteries. The relative fragility of the batteries in some applications has become, at some stage of use, sources of flame and ignition, leading to extensive destruction of containers and recycling facilities, challenging the end-of-life management approaches. The poorly recognized failure modes of Li-ion batteries are now targets for developing an understanding of the necessary handling of in-use batteries to detect conditions leading to fires or explosive destruction. There is the possibility that emissions of volatile organic compounds, particulate matters and irritant gas such as HF(PF6), HF, or SO2(FSI-) from a degrading battery could identify problematic batteries before they become critical and explosive. Similar to most consumer products, the life cycle of Li-ion batteries is based on a linear model with little consideration of end-of-life management strategies. Li-ion batteries contain valuable metals, critical minerals, and other materials that can be recovered, processed, and reused to help support a circular economy. The U.S. EPA established the Universal Waste program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste regulations to reduce toxic chemicals in the environment and encourage safe recycling and recovery of beneficial materials. The US EPA is also collaborating with other agencies and state regulators to promote the secure handling of Li-ion batteries and encourage sustainable stewardship. This document is intended to summarize the challenges of Li-ion batteries in terms of the recycling process, safety, current practices and policies for sustainable management, and achieving a circular economy.