How can lithium-ion batteries be recycled and reconditioned? | Euronews Tech Talks

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In 2022, an estimated 62 billion tonnes of electronic waste, also known as e-waste, were produced globally. Of this, only 22.3 per cent was documented as formally collected and recycled.

This includes lithium-ion batteries and to explore their lifecycle, Euronews Tech Talks spoke with Alban Regnier, president and co-founder of the French company Volt R and Alberto Tosoni, CEO of the Italian company Ecomet Refining. 

The reconditioning of lithium-ion batteries

“The current model is: From mining and production to usage and recycling. However, we want to add a new link to the battery value chain: mining, production, usage, second life, reuse, and finally, recycling,” Regnier told Euronews. 

Regnier started his business in 2021 to fix lithium-ion batteries before sending them for recycling.

Volt R secures batteries from a wide range of technological devices, including drills, bikes, laptops, and cars. 

Depending on the battery’s residual capacity, the company repurposes it for use in other devices.

For example, if a bike battery arrives at Volt R with a residual capacity of 80 per cent, the company can repurpose it as a drill battery, which requires less power and autonomy. Similarly, if they receive a drill battery, it can be converted into a lamp battery.

"On average, in Europe, when a battery is discarded, it still has 80 per cent residual capacity. In other words, we only use 20 per cent of the battery before throwing it away," Regnier explained.

"Specifically at Volt R, the batteries we receive on average still have 94 per cent of their residual value".

Regnier attributes this high percentage of unused capacity to a variety of factors such as people discarding devices that no longer work while the battery still functions or small issues in the battery design that they can repair.

The entrepreneur, however, recognised that reconditioning lithium-ion batteries presents challenges, such as having access to the battery feed or recovering batteries that were initially not designed for reuse.

Despite these drawbacks, Regnier believes that reconditioning these batteries is important for the environment and the European Union.

“Currently, 94 per cent of lithium batteries in Europe come from Asia, with the vast majority from China. This creates a significant sovereignty issue for Europe, especially since the political will is to electrify all uses,” he said.  

The recycling of lithium-ion batteries

Since 2012, Ecomet Refining has been recycling and recovering metals and critical raw materials like lithium to provide environmental solutions. 

Recycling doesn't replace reconditioning batteries. Instead, it comes at the end of the battery lifecycle and involves dismantling the product to recover its raw materials. 

To achieve this, Tosoni told Euronews that his company employs pyrometallurgical technology.

This involves smart furnaces that heat the battery to separate the metals which are then used as metal alloys.

Yet only 5 per cent of lithium-ion batteries are recycled as of today, a percentage that Tosoni attributed to multiple factors.

“The process requires specialised handling to prevent fires and ensure a safe recovery process of the materials. Additionally, the varying designs and body composition of the battery make recycling very difficult”.

A further challenge is related to the cost of this practice, as the investment required for building recycling plants may be high compared to the availability of recyclable lithium-ion batteries.

But how does Europe compare to other international actors when it comes to reconditioning and recycling lithium-ion batteries?

Find out the answer in this episode of our podcast Euronews Tech Talks.