BACKGROUNDA bioleaching process could offer the advantage of higher metal recovery in a sustainable manner even from LIB samples with very low metal concentrations. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of secondary resources such as LIBs for various purposes including transportation, large scale energy storage and use in portable devices.RESULTSThe adaptation of the mixed culture acidophilic microorganism to LIB allowed the setting of 0.5% of the pulp density. The maximum metal dissolution by bioleaching in the 1L bioreactor for the as‐received and thermally treated samples was found to be Li (67% & 49%), Co (81% & 86%), Ni (99% & 87%) and Mn (86% & 75%). Similarly, on the 10L scale, the dissolutions observed were: Li (80% & 67%), Co (75%), Ni (91% & 88%), Mn (63% & 75%) for the as‐received and heat‐treated samples respectively.CONCLUSIONParameters such as particle size, leaching time, pH and Fe2+ affect the efficiency of acidophilic bioleaching of Li, Co, Ni and Mn from spent lithium‐ion batteries.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.