Safety in lithium-ion battery circularity activities: A framework and evaluation methodology

•Safety risks exist in end-of-life (EOL) lithium-ion battery management.•Safety risk assessment of EOL lithium-ion battery activities is completed.•Safety assessment uses risk analysis and multi-criteria decision making.•Multiple stakeholders evaluate safety risks.•Non-technical and battery design management are important for safety concerns. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can help support sustainability through electric vehicles and energy storage. There is now wide adoption of LIBS and supply sourcing concerns for LIB metals such as cobalt and lithium. LIB End-of-life (EOL) management is essential for LIB metals supply chain resilience. Safety risks within EOL LIBs are potential disruption concerns. In this study safety risks during LIB EOL stages are explored with a circular economy (CE) perspective. Safety risk sources in EOL LIB management and their effects on activities are quantified and ranked by a combined Best-Worst Method (BWM) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methodology. This methodology combines risk analysis with multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) to provide initial insights into relative safety risk source improvements. General practical and research implications for future studies about the CE of LIBs emerge from this study's computational and analytical results.