Battery Recycling

Claims of carbon emission reductions and energy efficiency are widespread in the battery materials and recycling industry, but they are not always backed up by independently reviewed data. In this presentation, Ascend Elements describes the life cycle assessment (LCA) process used to calculate carbon emissions equivalent (CO2e) and particulate matter (PM 2.5) reductions associated with its sustainable NMC pCAM and recycled lithium carbonate products.

Battery EPR is rapidly taking hold across the US, narrowing the gap with Europe’s long-standing producer responsibility systems. As fires and rising logistics costs challenge the waste industry, safe and scalable packaging is becoming the cornerstone of effective stewardship. In this session, Call2Recycle’s Eric Frederickson will share insights into state legislation, operational challenges, and the packaging innovations that are making next-generation battery collection programs both cost-efficient and resilient.

Smartville has developed an integrated platform that enables the efficient assessment, trading, and repurposing of used EV batteries for second-life applications. Combining its proprietary Periscope diagnostic tool and Battery-connect repurposing solution, Smartville helps recyclers, fleet operators, and energy developers to address retired EV batteries. This presentation will highlight the technology, data workflows, and real-world use cases that drive Smartville’s mission to extend battery life, reduce waste, and unlock new value.

Currently, the North American recycling supply chain is not a complete closed loop within the region, and the challenges include: (1) "leakage" of black mass to Asia, (2) economies of scale sufficient to ensure profitability, and (3) lack of pCAM factories. This presentation will discuss the challenges and business opportunities for establishing a closed loop supply chain within North America in the future.

2025 was a dynamic year for North America’s recycling landscape as several recyclers entered the market, whilst others encountered major hurdles. Whilst significant progress is being made towards domestic refining of black mass, with some players establishing promising footholds, the majority of material is still being exported to Asia. Capacity developments, emerging recycled intermediates, pricing as well as possible regulatory changes will be discussed throughout this presentation.

Mobile Battery Deactivation will improve safety and reduce costs associated with the disposal and recycling of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, particularly at operational sites where batteries are sorted and identified as end-of-life or damaged. The patented and regulatorily recognized process renders batteries inert, eliminating hazardous risks and transforming batteries into non-hazardous materials to simplify storage, transportation, and recycling logistics. The presentation will discuss the commercialization of battery deactivation. 

The ReCell Center, funded by the Department of Energy—Vehicle Technologies Office, has continued to pursue the advancement of lithium-ion battery recycling technologies.  This presentation will cover some of the exciting new technologies that have been developed in ReCell and the deployment of the pilot scale recycling facility at Argonne National Laboratory.

Water-using recycling processes—such as wet crushing and electrohydraulic fragmentation—generate large amounts of contaminated process water, resulting in increased costs for the disposal of hazardous waste and safety guidelines. To improve wastewater management, safety, and sustainability of water-assisted recycling processes, comprehensive knowledge of the battery components in the water are required. Analytical techniques can play an important role during these processes, including wet shredding processes, wastewater management, and analytical techniques.

Lithium-ion battery recyclers and Hydromet processors can think like recyclers but must act like chemical plants. This is especially true for environmental emissions. Each plant handles solids emissions (dust such as ferrous, non-ferrous metals and plastics), liquid emissions (wastewater, electrolyte and solvents), and gaseous emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and acid gases (hydrofluoric acid). This presentation examines the source of the emissions and then discusses possible control approaches.

Graphite is the critical anode material for lithium-ion batteries and a cornerstone of the global energy transition. Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials has pioneered advanced regeneration processes that transform waste graphite from battery recycling into high-performance, battery-grade anode materials. Regenerated graphite has demonstrated equivalent performance to leading commercial anode materials. Importantly, its application extends beyond batteries to other automotive components such as lightweight materials, conductive additives, and brake systems.

In this work, we perform a technoeconomic analysis of repurposing electric vehicle batteries for use in second-life battery energy storage systems and compare the economics of repurposing to that of recycling. We find that repurposers can pay more than recyclers for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries because of their long cycle life and low-value recycled materials. In contrast, nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) batteries are generally more valuable when recycled, given their shorter lifetimes and high-value recycled materials. For nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries, the optimal path depends on recycling process, second-life application, and first-life retirement conditions.