Pyrometallurgical recycling of different lithium-ion battery cell systems: Economic and technical analysis

The global trend towards electromobility raises questions about the treatment of lithium-ion batteries from battery-electric vehicles at the end-of-life stage. The paper examines two pyrometallurgical recycling routes (a direct and a multi-step process) for different lithium-ion battery cell compositions (NMC333/C, NMC811/C, LFP/C, NMCLMO/C) from a techno-economic perspective. Based on lifecycle inventories per recycling process and battery type, the profitability of these two recycling processes is investigated by conducting a total cost of ownership analysis for typified pyrometallurgical recycling plants on a pre-industrial scale. The results reveal that the cell chemistry will have a major impact on the profitability of recycling. In particular, it appears to be difficult to operate recycling profitably under current conditions for low-cobalt and low-nickel battery types. A sensitivity analysis shows different levers and their respective limitations for increasing the process profitability of recycling different lithium-ion battery cell systems. •The current price levels question the profitability of LIB pyrometallurgical recycling.•LIB cell chemistry strongly influences profitability of pyrometallurgical recycling.•Current market trends make it difficult to economically recycle LIBs.•LIB recycling benefits from automatization and increasing raw material prices.•Electromobility debate needs to consider end-of-life costs for LIB recycling.