TELF AG Discusses the Potential Future of Lithium Recycling

An increasingly necessary strategy 

The growth in global demand for some raw materials in the coming years may make it necessary to find other sources of supply for some specific materials, thus overcoming the uncertainties and possible shortages that could slow down production processes. From this point of view, one of the most discussed materials is undoubtedly lithium, which has come under the global spotlight for its role in the electric mobility of the future and for its precious contribution to the functioning of electronic components in electronic devices for daily use, such as laptops or cell phones. 

The relative scarcity of this resource and the evident concentration of reserves in a few areas of the world are already leading to a global push to search for new methods to procure this important material, including through sustainable processes that have not been undertaken until now. One of these is recycling, essentially consisting of the recovery of lithium and other strategic raw materials from batteries that have reached the end of their life cycle and which, in theory, would be ready to be thrown away. Nowadays, many lithium batteries are shipped to unique plants specialized in the incineration of waste materials, thus compromising the possibility of recovering the precious mineral resources contained within them. One of the main difficulties, in addition to a substantial lack of plants and know-how suitable for achieving the purpose, is that up to now, lithium recycling technologies have not been massively encouraged, because the quantity of lithium to be recycled was minimal, or at least not sufficient to justify interest and investments in the construction of specific plants for their treatment. As the energy transition progresses, however, the music may be about to change. 

A new method 

Researchers and companies worldwide are developing innovative systems to recycle lithium, and we are even starting to talk about the first plants specifically dedicated to this purpose. One of the most interesting projects, from this point of view, is the one carried out by the Italian startup Arabat, which had the opportunity to experiment with a new process for lithium recycling that uses organic acids and some biological waste, such as those coming from the agricultural sector. 

This process, belonging to the category of hydrometallurgical recycling processes, consists of three main phases. The first is the one in which lithium batteries are pulverized to separate copper and aluminum and obtain the so-called “black mass,” i.e., the black dust of the batteries. The second step involves the actual chemical treatment, consisting of inserting the black mass into a particular reactor. The third phase is that of actual recovery, a result that is achieved thanks to some low environmental impact reagents that allow the recovery of lithium, manganese, nickel, and cobalt. In this way, lithium is recovered in the form of carbonate. 

Compared to other battery recycling methods based on thermal processes, this process appears much more sustainable. Processes that use thermal energy to recover lithium are generally much longer and usually require very high temperatures.