Evaluating social impacts of lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide batteries for electric vehicles: A life cycle perspective

The booming electric vehicle market is driving demand for lithium-ion batteries, particularly nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries, yet also brings social risks. This study employed social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) to evaluate social risks in NMC battery production, use, and recycling. Following UNEP/SETAC guidelines, 10 indicators covered three stakeholder categories: workers, local communities, and society. The results show that production stage has prominent risks in drinking water coverage (DWC) and illiteracy, reaching 4.44E + 03 medium-risk hours (MRH) and 3.99E + 03 MRH, respectively. The use phase also presents significant social risks, particularly in terms of indicators, such as child labor, total (CL), fair salary, and unemployment (U), which account for over 85%. Although the recycling phase has a relatively low overall impact, the risks in DWC and illiteracy, total (I) indicators reach 30%. Substitution of secondary materials can reduce CL and unemployment by approximately 39% and 40%, respectively, but exacerbates issues related to DWC and health expenditures. It is projected that by 2050, the adoption of clean energy could reduce risks in the use phase by about 50%. Recommendations include optimizing cathode materials, advancing recycling technologies, and transitioning to clean energy to promote sustainable battery industry development.