Battery Recycling
Battery recycling is the controlled processing of production scrap or end-of-life batteries to recover materials that can be returned to manufacturing or other uses.
Where recycling begins
Collection, transport, diagnosis, repair, reuse, and repurposing are related activities, but they are not themselves recycling. A battery enters a recycling process when it is treated as material feedstock rather than kept in service as the same product. If a battery remains safe and useful, repair or a second-life application may preserve more of its original value before recycling becomes necessary.
Lithium-ion batteries require controlled handling because damaged cells can retain energy and may release heat or hazardous substances. Industrial treatment can include discharging or otherwise making the pack safe, dismantling, sorting, and mechanical size reduction. Shredding and separation often produce an intermediate concentrate known as black mass; that material still needs further processing before its constituents are ready for new battery production.
Material recovery
Recovery routes commonly combine mechanical preparation with pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, or direct-recycling steps. These process families differ in how much of the original material structure they preserve, which inputs they can tolerate, and their energy, chemical, and purification requirements.
A single percentage can be misleading when comparing recycling performance. Mass-based recycling efficiency, recovery of a particular element, purity of the recovered product, and the share that can return to battery-grade production are different measures. Results also depend on cell chemistry. A process optimized for nickel- and cobalt-rich batteries may not have the same economics or outputs for lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Recycling is the final material-recovery stage in the broader battery lifecycle. It does not make battery production impact-free, but well-designed recovery systems can reduce waste and return valuable materials to the supply chain.