ReLiB: Recycling and Reuse of EV Lithium-ion Batteries

The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) brings challenges and opportunities associated with the need to manage projected volumes of around 16,500 tonnes of EV lithium-ion batteries reaching end-of-life by 2028. To cope effectively with these volumes, vast improvements in the speed, environmental footprint and the economics of recycling processes will be required.

ReLiB’s vision is to provide a UK EV battery recycling industry with a pipeline of scalable technologies that are responsive to regulatory drivers, new battery designs and chemistries, and the opportunities afforded by Industry 4.0. Over the next 5 years we aim to see the following technologies developed—and scaled:

• cathode leaching work to industrial level

• upcycled electrode materials used in new cells

• binder recovery (where there is an economic or regulatory rationale to do so)

• biorecovery of materials e.g., metals from plastic EV battery waste, from secondary waste solutions – ’zero waste’ concept

• smart disassembly, separation and regeneration technologies e.g., direct recycling to protect the material crystal structure and embedded value of electrode material for reuse

• digital diagnostic tools that can interface seamlessly with battery data passports to assess the state of health of batteries and inform recycling routes

• identification of new research topics that fit with changing battery design and chemistry systems and regulatory drivers.