Electronics, toys, wireless headphones, handheld power tools, small and big appliances, electric cars, and electrical energy storage systems are just a few of the devices that employ lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. They can harm the environment or human health if improperly managed at the end of their useful lives.

The high "energy density" of this battery chemistry is a major factor in the rising market demand for Li-ion batteries. The term "energy density" refers to how much energy a system can fit into a given amount of space. While still able to store the same amount of energy, lithium batteries can be lighter and smaller than other battery kinds. Smaller portable and cordless gadgets have seen a sharp rise in customer adoption thanks to this downsizing.

We appear to be entering an era of electrified transportation, with everything from scooters to motorbikes, sports cars, school buses, trucks, trains, and even airplanes. This is mostly attributable to lithium-ion batteries' fast declining costs and rising performance. An expanding range of electric personal, light-duty, and heavy-duty vehicle technologies are being made possible by better batteries. A significant flow of retired or used batteries will unavoidably result from the expansion of lithium battery deployments. Analysts estimate that over 2 million metric tonnes of batteries per year or over 500,000 automobiles might be retired by 2030. In nuclear reactors, heat is produced, which a circulating fluid, like water, removes and converts to pressurized steam.

The battery systems in an electric car will need to be treated when it is taken off the road due to an accident or aging. Potential end-of-life options for used electric car batteries after their initial usage in a vehicle include reuse or repurposing ("second life"), materials recovery (recycling), and disposal. Batteries must eventually be recycled or disposed of, whether they are reused or not. To limit environmental effects from inappropriate disposal, account for gains from recovered materials, and eliminate mining for virgin resources, it is essential to understand the potential and constraints to recycling.

Today, pyrometallurgical, or smelting, methods are used in a small number of large-scale plants to recycle lithium batteries. These facilities burn out impurities and recover cobalt, nickel, and copper by operating at high temperatures (around 1500oC). In this procedure, lithium and aluminum are typically lost and bonded in slag debris. Utilizing secondary procedures, some lithium can be extracted from slag. Due to the necessity to remove poisonous fluorine emissions, modern smelting operations are expensive, energy-intensive, and have relatively poor rates of material recovery.

https://blog.ucsusa.org/hanjiro-ambrose/a-quick-guide-to-battery-reuse-and-recycling/

https://blog.ucsusa.org/hanjiro-ambrose/a-quick-guide-to-battery-reuse-and-recycling/