Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET18

Battery Recycling
these communities have no say in - and
receive little benefit from - the mining
operations. " Chile, a major producer, has
debated nationalizing its lithium resource,
for both economic and environmental
reasons.
More than 70 percent of the world's
cobalt comes from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, where there are
severe child labor issues (up to 40 percent
of the cobalt work force), ongoing
human rights abuses, and horrendous
working conditions with minimal safety.
Like lithium, cobalt is mostly refined
in China, and Chinese companies,
operating through the massive 'Belt
and Road' international development
initiative, own or have financed major
stakes in lithium and cobalt mines
- including 80 percent of the cobalt
in the DRC, reports GlobalEDGE. After
an international outcry, the leading
Chinese companies have made some
modest improvements in DRC mining
practices. And some crude refining is
now done locally, economically benefiting
locals in the DRC.
The metal remains a flash point.
" Cobalt is a 'dead man walking' in lithium-ion
batteries, " said Lewis Black,
who heads Almonty Partners and has
15-years experience in mining tungsten,
another battery metal with a 50
percent-recycled supply.
The battery
industry - aware of
these issues - has steadily reduced the
amount of cobalt in its cells, but so far
it remains an essential metal. Nickel,
also problematic, often is mined in an
environmentally destructive way. The
massive Chinese-owned Ramu nickel
mine in Papua, New Guinea, for instance,
was estimated to dump 680,000
tons of waste into Basamuk Bay annually,
leading to a $5.2 billion lawsuit
from a local coalition.
Sustainable lithium mining, including
a U.S. domestic supply, is under development
but recovering the metal from used
EVs is a proven process. A ton of battery-grade
lithium can be produced from
250 tons of ore and 750 tons of brine, or
from just 28 tons of used Li-ion batteries,
the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) said.
The only problem is that less than
five percent of battery lithium was being
recovered in 2019, said DoE. But the industry
is growing fast.
THE CURRENT 50,000+ MILE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN
The Big Ramp-Up
Kunal Phalpher is the Chief Strategy
Officer at Canada-based Li-Cycle, whose
stated purpose is to " recover critical
materials from Li-ion batteries and reintroduce
them back into the supply
chain. " Phalpher said Li-Cycle takes
whole packs and shreds them, producing
plastic, copper, and aluminum that can
be sold on to recyclers. Using hydrometallurgy,
the company develops so-called
" black mass, " containing cobalt, lithium,
and nickel. " At high purity levels, it can
go back into the supply chain and help
create domestic sources, " Phalpher said.
Li-Cycle, which went public on the NY
Stock Exchange in 2021 through a SPAC
deal, estimates that approximately 15
million tons of Li-ion batteries will have
reached the end of life by 2030, up from
1.7 million tons by 2020. The company
has a " hub and spoke " organization: The
spokes create the black mass from scrap
batteries, and the hubs separate out the
metals and prepare them to re-enter the
supply chain. Last April, LG Chem and LG
Energy Solution chose Li-Cycle as their
preferred recycling partner for North
American operations, providing black
METALS
REFINING
NICKEL
CELL
PRODUCTION
OEM
METALS
REFINING
CATHODE
PRODUCTION
COBALT
NICKEL
COBALT
LITHIUM
CATHODE SUPPLY
CHAIN EXAMPLE
NICKEL
COBALT
NICKEL
COBALT
LITHIUM
The average metal atom travels 50,000 miles from the mine before it's used in an EV battery pack, according to Redwood Materials. Recycled
metals will make up 30 percent of the materials in the company's cathodes by 2025. (Image: Redwood Materials)
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Battery & Electrification Technology, March 2023

Automotive Engineering - March 2023

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