Progress, Challenges, and Outlook for Sodium‐Ion Battery Recycling

ABSTRACT Sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are attracting increasing attention as a sustainable and low‐cost alternative to lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, SIBs recycling presents distinct technical, environmental, and economic challenges because of the lower economic value of sodium compounds and the variety of electrode chemistries compared to LIBs. This perspective paper discusses key material systems and degradation mechanisms relevant to SIBs performance, identifies the major technical, environmental, and economic constraints on recycling, and proposes a chemistry‐specific framework for evaluating pretreatment, pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and direct regeneration routes. Finally, this perspective highlights future directions where degradation‐guided recycling and recycling‐informed battery design can work together to support a closed‐loop SIB ecosystem.