How does the United States carry out lithium battery recycling

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the first lithium-ion battery recycling center called the ReCell Center. The recycled materials of lithium-ion batteries can be reused in new batteries, thereby reducing production costs by 10% to 30%, which helps to reduce the total cost of electric vehicle batteries. The goal of DOE is to reduce battery costs to 80 per kilowatt hour. US dollars (approximately 480 yuan).

The goal of the ReCell Center is to promote closed-loop recycling. The materials of used batteries can be directly recycled. By eliminating mining and processing steps, energy consumption and waste are minimized.

The ReCell Center is DOE’s first advanced battery recycling research and development (Ru0026D) program and is a collaborative project of Argonne. Including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and several universities (Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of California San Diego and Michigan Technological University).

In addition, there are partners from the battery supply chain, including battery manufacturers, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM), recycling centers, battery lifecycle management services and materials Suppliers and others are cooperating with the center. The ReCell Center is supported by DOE for $15 million over three years, and its work will include the development of test benches and post-process scale-up facilities at Argonne.

The collaborators of the ReCell Center will focus on four key research areas to achieve profitable lithium-ion battery recycling for industry adoption:

The first is direct positive electrode recycling. The focus will be on the development of recycling processes to produce products that go directly back to new batteries without expensive reprocessing;

The second is to recycle other materials. The focus will be on creating technologies that can cost-effectively recycle other battery materials, thereby providing an additional source of income;

The third is recycling design, which will be developed New battery design and optimization make future batteries easier to recycle;

Fourth, modeling and analysis tools will be developed and used to help guide the effective way of research and development and verify the center Work within.

Collaborators of universities and national laboratories will use the most advanced Ru0026D tools in their institutions to develop valuable materials for separating and recovering valuable materials from waste electric vehicle batteries New method. The researchers will then expand the most promising technologies at the ReCell central plant in Argonne, where industrial collaborators can explore the technology and develop it further.

The center will become a collaborative space for researchers from industry, academia, and other government laboratories, using Ru0026D tools that their own laboratories do not have, and developing pre-commercial technology.

ReCell Center Director Jeff Spangenberger said that ReCell Center will help accelerate the pursuit of profitable lithium-ion battery recycling. It combines leading national experts and research tools from academia, industry, and government laboratories to solve the scientific challenges that hinder the United States from obtaining economic, environmental, and safety benefits that come from having a large-scale commercial U.S. lithium ion recycling market.

The goal of the center is to create profitable ways to significantly increase recycling rates and improve National Security. This will further promote the US President’s Executive Order 13817, which determines the need to 'develop critical mineral recovery and reprocessing technologies' as part of a broader strategy to 'ensure the safe and reliable supply of critical minerals.'