Lithium-ion battery recycling evolution: Could entire cell regeneration be the next step?

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have experienced significant growth across various industries over the past decades. However, the disposal of the spent LIBs, which contributes to a substantial amount of solid waste, has become a rapidly escalating global issue. While numerous recycling techniques focus on recovering individual components of the battery, these oftentimes energy-intensive methods, despite yielding notable results, pose a significant environmental threat due to the generation of toxic by-products. In this review, we investigate the currently practiced industry-scale battery-recycling techniques along with a few lab-scale techniques that hold the potential to be scalable whilst ensuring environmental preservation. After a careful analysis, we steer the readers in the direction of exploring a new green method that targets the convenient and complete regeneration of the LIB.