A techno-economic assessment of two recycling processes for black mass from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries

Against the background of the growing market share of electric vehicles worldwide, the recycling of used vehicle batteries needs to be further investigated. In this paper, two recycling processes for pyrolyzed black mass from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, a pyrometallurgical route and a hydrometallurgical route with precedent early-stage lithium recovery, are techno-economically evaluated using a total cost of ownership approach. From a technical point of view, this approach thus focuses on maximizing the recycling efficiency achieved by pyrolysis treatment of the battery scrap to pre-separate copper and aluminum. A scenario analysis of the future development of material prices and the market share of cell chemistries is performed to determine the influence of these variables on the profitability of the recycling processes. In general, current trends in cell chemistry pose challenges to profitable LIB recycling. The hydrometallurgical recycling route was found to be less susceptible to price fluctuations and changes in cell chemistry than the pyrometallurgical recycling route and is therefore expected to be more profitable than the pyrometallurgical recycling route when scaled up, especially considering the trend towards decreasing cobalt content in lithium-ion batteries.