Evaluating environmental impacts of different hydrometallurgical recycling technologies of the retired nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries from electric vehicles in China

Abstract

With the large-scale application of electric vehicles, the environmentally-friendly recycling of retired lithium-ion batteries is becoming a severe issue. Here, the process-based life cycle model is established to evaluate the environmental impacts of different hydrometallurgical routes, and the environmental potential of battery remanufacturing is investigated. Results suggest: (1) The environmental burden during recycling is contributed by high consumption of electricity and auxiliary materials, the difference of carbon footprint (CF) and cumulative energy demand (CED) for different recycling routes can reach 60.3% and 64.2%, respectively. (2) The CF and CED of the nickel-manganese-cobalt (NCM) batteries remanufactured with recycled materials are 34.1% and 17.5% less than those manufactured with raw materials, respectively. (3) The CF of battery remanufacturing with recycled materials can be significantly reduced in provinces with high-proportion of renewable energy in electricity in China. Under China's electricity structure in 2050, the CF of NCM manufacturing with recycled materials can be reduced by 38.8%.