INTRODUCTION OF LITHIUM-ION BATTERRIES

Li-ion battery recycling is a form of collection of used batteries to recycle into a new battery. This helps to reduce battery costs, and promote the use of a second battery again with reasonable prices and environmental protection.

Today, many countries in Europe, America, Canada, Korea, Japan, China, and several other countries in the world are interested in battery manufacturing. Each country has its own process and brings different effects. In particular, some processes can only be partially recyclable such as copper and aluminum, others completely recycled and created alternative products such as lithium carbonate, cobalt sulfate and nickel sulfate.

In 2022, the amount of battery used for recycling was estimated at 97,000 tons. There are more than 20 battery recycling companies in China and about 6 battery recycling companies in Korea. Raw materials are collected both domestically and abroad.

In Europe and North America, the weight of lithium-ion battery is still quite low. The main reason is because the battery is not separate to collect, but collects the whole battery -nots, then resell it to Asian companies to handle it for reuse. Most recyclers outside Korea and China have difficulty connecting directly to the battery collection.

The battery used much today is LCO battery. With 17% cobalt content, these batteries are high in recycling and often bring high profits. That means recycling these batteries offers positive aspects in the value chain from collection to recycling, thanks to high cobalt prices.

The source of recycled raw materials is only a small part of the large recycling market from batteries to scrap goods. It is expected that when the demand for raw materials is increasing, the recycling of battery will also grow strongly in the long term. Although the recycling of lithium batteries is growing, they only account for a small part of the total amount of battery released. The situation is similar to metals such as nickel, aluminum and copper.

In terms of market value, the Lithium-ion battery recycling industry in 2025 will handle battery and scrap with a value of US $ 2.6 billion at the last metal price (December 2018). In 2025, the total market value is expected to exceed US $ 3.8 billion. This shows how sensitive recycling battery market for changes in the commodity market. The market value for recycling is important not only for actual profits in the recycling industry but also affects the collection of battery and output for the product.

In my opinion, with higher price of goods, there will be more costs for the market to encourage users to collect and send used batteries to recycling facilities. Thus, it will help a lot for reducing the battery cost, and promoting the use of the battery for the second time with a reasonable price from recyclers or even paid to the battery supplier for re -used such as refurbished factories and manufacturers.

REFERENCE SOURCE: WORLD BANK