Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling: Evaluating the Impact of Recycling Methods and Location

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling technologies are advancing rapidly, with higher recovery efficiencies, lower energy demand, and more complex supply chains. Previous life cycle assessment (LCA) studies overlook evolving industry recycling practices and often disregard key impact categories, such as water consumption, toxicity, and resource depletion potential. Previous studies also do not evaluate battery recycling methods within the current supply chain context, specifically accounting for prevailing battery waste composition, final cathode material outputs, and varying geographic locations of recycling stages. This study compares conventional hydrometallurgy (CHR), truncated hydrometallurgy (THR), and pyrometallurgy (PR) recycling in North America, Europe, and China. This work considers each method's recycling efficiency and the additional primary materials required to produce the new NMC811 CAM. Leaching and materials extraction contribute the most to the environmental footprint of recycling. Skipping metals' extraction in THR leads to the lowest carbon footprint, water consumption, and toxicity. Compared to China, recycling and manufacturing in North America reduce the carbon footprint and freshwater toxicity of the NMC811 CAM by 16% and 30%, respectively. Careful selection of the recycling and production locations can reduce the environmental impact of a modern EV NMC811 battery pack by 792 kg CO2-eq and 11,355 L of water, respectively.