Application of Circular Economy in Electromobility: Recovery of Lithium Batteries

The circular economy model leaves behind the concept of the linear economy, to advance in the recovery and reuse of materials, maintaining their value for as long as possible. On the other hand, electromobility based on the development of high-efficiency lithium batteries will allow progress towards carbon neutrality. Worldwide, the sale of electric cars has increased rapidly, representing about 10% of the vehicles sold in 2021. With this, battery production reached 160 GWh in 2020, where China and Europe being the main producers. The massification of electric, hybrid, and fuel cell cars in different parts of the planet is expected to represent a challenge in the coming years, as each country will have to design strategies to recover, reuse, recycle, and revalue the different waste associated with electromobility lithium batteries. In this context, applying the principles of circular economy and green chemistry, this chapter is based on research work aimed at proposing an efficient, low-cost, and environmentally friendly process for the revaluation of waste batteries of the Ion-Lithium type. For this project, it was defined that the objects of study would correspond to cell phone batteries and notebooks manufactured from 2010 onwards. This considering that the composition of these batteries is the same as those currently manufactured and those that will be manufactured in the coming years for application in Electromobility, in terms of structure and materials of interest. Different physical and chemical processes are used to recover the metallic and non-metallic components of interest. The characterization results of the used batteries indicate that the anode and cathode materials are mainly composed of LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, or LiCo0.2Ni0.5Mn0.3O2. Applying the hydrometallurgical method (leaching), it is possible to recover chemical species of high commercial value that can be used in the manufacture of new batteries with yields that exceed 88% for lithium and 90% for other metals such as nickel, manganese, and cobalt. The recovery of materials such as copper, cobalt, lithium, aluminium, and nickel will make electromobility viable worldwide. Therefore, taking care of this type of waste and giving new uses to its valuable chemical components will represent a competitive advantage shortly, in addition to opening the door to establishing a model based on a circular economy that allows avoiding the destruction of unique ecosystems. Worldwide, end the socio-environmental conflicts associated with the extraction and production of materials that are the basis for the battery industry and transform electromobility into a truly sustainable solution to global warming.