Lithium Ion Battery Recycling Industry in South Korea

Abstract

The objective of this article is to summarize the commercial lithium ion battery (LIB) recycling processes in Korea and to suggest new direction for LIB recycling. A representative LIB recycler, SungEel Hitech Co. has successfully operated the LIB recycling process for over 10 years, and new recycling processes were recently proposed or developed by many recycling companies and battery manufacturers. In the new recycling processes, lithium is recovered before nickel and cobalt due to the rapid rise in lithium prices, and metal sulfate solution as final product of recycling process can be supplied to manufacturers. The main problem that the new recycling process will face is impurities, which will mainly come from end-of-life electric vehicles or new additives in LIB, although the conventional processes must be improved for mass processing.

Lithium Extraction from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) Using Mechanochemical Process: A Comprehensive Review

“…Also, the existing spent LIBs recycling has been frequently focused on extracting Co and Ni, but the development of Li recovery processes from many types of LIBs is the recent interest due to the high Li price 10) . Newly reported recycling processes are designed to recover Li before Co and Ni 11) , which seems to be due to the high loss of Li that occurred by many routes in the conventional process 10,12) . Therefore, developing a sustainable and high Li recovery recycling process from spent LIBs is important, and research on the mechanochemical processes to overcome the above challenge is addressed in this paper.…”

Addressing preliminary challenges in upscaling the recovery of lithium from spent lithium ion batteries by the electrochemical method: a review

“…TEA is a metric to evaluate the economic viability of a process through profit and cost analyses, while the LCA assesses the environmental performance using suitable analyses that include parameters like GHG emissions and global warming potential (GWP). 138–141 Within the thriving industry of spent Li-ion battery (LIB) recycling, both components play crucial role in assisting industry stakeholders making informed decisions regarding the adoption of recycling techniques. The studies outlined in Table 8 focus exclusively on TEA and LCA studies performed for pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical technologies; these assessments serve as pivotal factors facilitating the global industrial-scale adoption of these techniques.…”

Deep eutectic solvent‐assisted selective extraction of valuable metals from waste lithium‐ion batteries

“…[4][5][6][7] If they are not recycled, it will lead to an enormous wastage of resources, thus violating the principles of clean energy and resource sustainability. [8][9][10] The constituents within the discarded LIBs are exceedingly toxic, and if not properly handled, the toxic electrolytes and heavy metal contents can result in severe ecological toxicity and pose significant human health concerns. [11][12][13] Current recovery approaches for discarded LIBs can be categorized into three distinct groups: methodologies involving direct restoration, [14][15][16] selective retention conversion technologies, 17 and metallurgical recovery processes centered on element extraction.…”

“…These discarded LIBs contain valuable metals, such as lithium and cobalt, which have immense significance owing to their scarcity, industrial applications, and elevated economic value 4–7 . If they are not recycled, it will lead to an enormous wastage of resources, thus violating the principles of clean energy and resource sustainability 8–10 . The constituents within the discarded LIBs are exceedingly toxic, and if not properly handled, the toxic electrolytes and heavy metal contents can result in severe ecological toxicity and pose significant human health concerns 11–13 …”