Why you would possibly recycle a battery—and methods to do it

Lithium-ion batteries, that are utilized in EVs, are a more moderen invention; they got here into the image within the Nineties in small digital gadgets earlier than discovering a market in electrical automobiles. As their use has grown, so too have efforts to recycle them. 

Recycling corporations’ processes all look about the identical to an outdoor observer. Batteries are disassembled and crushed up, and the ensuing powder is dissolved earlier than being subjected to varied chemical methods. However the particulars can be a key deciding consider how a lot of the dear supplies recyclers can get better, and due to this fact how a lot cash they will make. 

Because of advances in these processes, the prospects for constructing a enterprise round battery recycling have improved. The identical dynamic is happening in photo voltaic panel recycling, the place corporations are working to get better silver and different costly supplies from the gadgets. 

On a private degree, I believe discovering methods to recycle and repurpose supplies with a view to lower down on waste and harmful mining is a worthwhile purpose in itself. However profitability is a surefire technique to make battery recycling extra more likely to occur. 

We’re nonetheless within the early days of battery recycling. China has funded and inspired an enormous trade, and now Europe and North America are catching up, with corporations elevating  tons of of tens of millions of {dollars} in investments and constructing multibillion-dollar amenities.

For my deep dive into battery recycling, I took a have a look at one in every of these corporations, Redwood Supplies. If you wish to study extra about what Redwood is attempting to do, or the challenges the corporate is dealing with, take a look at my function story that got here out yesterday. I additionally received to talk with JB Straubel, founding father of Redwood Supplies and former chief expertise officer at Tesla, about the place he thinks the trade is headed. You will discover an edited model of our dialog right here. 

Maintaining with Local weather

Climeworks introduced that it’s begun eradicating carbon dioxide from the environment at its Orca plant in Iceland. (Wall Road Journal)

→ The plant will not be large, however it is a main step for carbon removing, which was one in every of our breakthrough applied sciences in 2022. (MIT Expertise Assessment)