Lithium batteries recycling

Toxco, a Southern California environmental firm, developed the most successful lithium recycling processing technique for all lithium batteries regardless of size or type. The process was developed and brought to commercial use in 1992 to meet the need for lithium battery recycling in military systems. It has been strongly improved over the years and has resulted in many U.S. patents. 

Toxco process and Sony/Sumitomo process are the oldest industrial methods of lithium battery recycling. The Canadian company uses mechanical and hydrometallurgical... 

Lithium battery recycling is a relatively new but rapidly expanding process. All companies mainly focus on cobalt recovery, as it is the most expensive material, but some companies (e.g. Accurec, Toxco) recover also lithium. Specialists estimate an increase of the lithium... 

Shredded circuit boards. Circuit boards are metal boards that hold computer chips, thermostats, batteries, and other electronic components. Circuit boards can be found in computers, televisions, radios, and other electronic equipment. When this equipment is thrown away, these boards can be removed and recycled. Whole circuit boards meet the definition of scrap metal, and are therefore exempt from hazardous waste regulation when recycled. On the other hand, some recycling processes involve shredding the board. Such shredded boards do not meet the exclusion for recycled scrap metal. In order to facilitate the recycling of such materials, U.S. EPA excluded recycled shredded circuit boards from the definition of solid waste, provided that they are stored in containers sufficient to prevent release to the environment, and are free of potentially dangerous components, such as mercury switches, mercury relays, nickel-cadmium batteries, and lithium batteries. 

In large volume production, the availability of electrode materials for batteries must also be considered, such as cobalt, nickel, iron or manganese, and above all lithium (see also Deutsche Bank, 2008). The lithium demand is 0.3 kg lithium metal equivalent/kWh (Tahil, 2006) 17 for a 30 kWh battery (20 kWh/100 km and 150 km range) this results in 9 kg lithium/vehicle. To avoid stresses on lithium supply battery recycling will be crucial. 

Aprotic electrolytes of an adequate high conductivity are necessary for lithium batteries and super capacitors. Therefore, recently, much industrial research has been done in this area and highly sophisticated electrolyte systems have been developed (e.g. [64]). The supporting electrolytes for aprotic solvents generally are more or less expensive and toxic. After the reaction, their separation and recycling is inevitable and frequently needs considerable efforts. 

The entry of lithium batteries into the consumer market is still quite recent and not much attention has so far been paid to disposal and the possibility of recycling procedures. Lithium metal, although not toxic, is a safety hazard since it is very reactive, especially in contact with water or in high humidity. This makes lithium batteries which have not been fully... 

David J. (2001) Can We Recycle 65% of the Components of Nickel Metal Hydride and Lithium-Ion Batteries Proceedings of the International Congress on Battery Recycling. Montreux, Switzerland, May 2-4,2001. 

Prior to discussing the practicalities of recycling lithium batteries, it is necessary to first provide a background illustrating the types and charaeteristics of lithium batteries. Following the background section, this chapter will focus on ... 

THE HAZARDS AND SAFETY ASPECTS OF RECYCLING LITHIUM BATTERIES... 

Prior to the processing of any lithium battery for recycling, the battery s material safety data sheet should be reviewed, and, if necessary, a complete analysis should be performed to determine the waste products. Components and chemicals are unique to each manufacturer and not each type of lithium battery. Many are similar but none are identical. Compoimds that can cause serious concern if overlooked include chrome, arsenic, fluorine, mercury, organic solvents, asbestos, lithium, and others. At the end of this chapter are two typical battery analyses performed by Toxco Inc., exemplifying the... 

The storage requirements for lithium batteries are very similar to those of other batteries. They should be kept out of direct sunlight or high heat. They should be kept covered and clearly marked. In a recycling environment safeguards must be taken to reduce the risk of fire. All combustible material that is not essential should be removed from the area. Batteries should not be stored near explosives, flammable liquids or other non-compatible materials. The storage area should be made of metal or concrete... 

In the recent past most lithium batteries were either put into a landfill or incinerated. Many of the larger lithium primary systems had no known method of disposal, much less recycling. The older large primary lithium batteries were, many times, so reactive that open detonation was used as an effective disposal method. 

Facilities that do not fall into the p)n ometallurgical category involve wet chemistry processes. Only two such processes are known and only one has processed high volumes of all types of lithium batteries. These processes generally produee cleaner recycled products, less waste from the process, and are dedieated strictly to processing lithium batteries. 

Recycle all types of spent lithium batteries regardless of size ... 

There is no hazardous waste generated when lithium batteries are recycled at Toxco Inc. There is no municipal sewer system in the processing area and air emissions are collected via a direct-capture-system over each of the reaction areas. These fumes are processed through three air filters coimected in series the first is a wet bed fume scrubber which removes particulate material, the second is a traveling bed filter to further remove particulate material, and the third treats the emissions chemically. Each year Toxco is required to hire an outside environmental audit firm to test the emissions for conformance with their permit. The 1999 results are presented in Table 1. As one can see the emissions are quite minor in comparison to the allowable limits. 

Recycling capabilities for lithium batteries have advanced significantly since the early 1990s. Initial methods focused mainly on deactivation and safe disposal rather than material recovery because of the prevalence and well known reactivity of lithium metal in the primary batteries that made up the bulk of the commereial product at that time... 

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