All About Lithium Batteries: Mining, Processing, and Recycling

All About Lithium Ion Batteries: Mining, Processing, and Recycling

Some of the most frequent questions, and persistent myths, about EVs concern the minerals and materials that make them up.

Before we dive into the specifics, let’s get some of the biggest questions out of the way.

Absolutely. Here are some predominant myths or questions that frequently arise around EV battery supply chains. Scroll down to read more in depth.

1. Myth: China controls all the battery raw materials

Reality: While China dominates battery refining and cell production, it does not control most of the raw material mining. For example:

The myth stems from China's dominance in midstream processing, not upstream extraction.

2. Question: Will we run out of lithium and other key minerals?

Reality: Geologically, there is enough lithium, cobalt, and nickel to meet projected demand for decades. The concern is not about scarcity, but about:

Innovation in battery chemistries (like LFP batteries that use no cobalt or nickel, but easier to find phosphate and iron) also alleviates pressure on supply.

3. Myth: EV batteries are unethical because of child labor

Reality: The use of child labor in cobalt mining in the DRC has been well documented and is a serious issue. However:

Child labor and human rights violations are very valid concerns, but not representative of the entire industry.

4. Question: Are battery supply chains worse for the environment than oil?

Reality: While battery mining and manufacturing have an environmental impact, lifecycle analyses consistently show that:

Oil extraction, refining, and combustion are ongoing, high-emissions processes with their own environmental toll.

5. Myth: EV batteries are not recyclable and will create a waste crisis

Reality: EV batteries are highly recyclable, and the industry is rapidly building capacity to process end-of-life packs.

The infrastructure isn’t fully mature yet, but it's scaling fast in the U.S., EU, and Asia.

6. Question: Are battery supply chains more vulnerable than oil supply chains?

Reality: Battery supply chains are complex and globally distributed, which creates some vulnerability — but they are less geopolitically fragile than oil:

Over time, supply chain resilience improves, while oil dependency stays brittle.

7. Myth: EVs just shift pollution from tailpipes to power plants and mines

Reality: This claim ignores the total lifecycle emissions:

Also, many EVs are already being powered by solar, wind, or low-carbon grids.

Now that we’ve gotten some big questions out of the way, let’s start at the beginning. What does it take to create a Li-ion battery?

What is in a lithium-ion battery?

A lithium-ion (aka Li-ion) battery consists of two nodes: an anode (negative) and cathode (positive), separated by materials that help electrons flow between the nodes. The anode is typically graphite, but the cathode can be various lithiated metal oxides. Because the active material in the cathode is the distinguishing factor between different types of batteries, the different chemistries are used to name the battery types. Common chemistries in electric vehicles include NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) and LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate).

What is a critical mineral?

Of the minerals used in batteries, six of them ( graphite, aluminum, nickel, manganese, cobalt, and lithium) are listed on the USGS Critical Minerals list, which was updated in 2022 to inform recent climate and energy legislation. A critical mineral is one that is deemed essential “to the U.S. economy and national security.“

There is a focus on developing a domestic supply of such minerals to reduce reliance on countries which may be uncooperative or hostile to the US. A domestic supply will also be less affected by logistics and supply disruptions due to climate change or international conflicts. While critical minerals come from around the globe, most of them are currently processed and refined in China.

How is lithium mined?

There are two main techniques for mining lithium:

Metallic brine mining pumps water with dissolved lithium from underground reservoirs. The brine is stored in above-ground ponds where evaporation further concentrates the lithium, producing lithium carbonate. Lithium carbonate is then commonly converted to lithium hydroxide, which is used to make cathodes and electrolytes.
Brine mining is common in arid locations, such as in the Lithium Triangle and the Silver Peak Mine in Nevada. However, it faces scrutiny due to its reliance on large quantities of water, since water itself can be quite supply restricted in these locations.

Hard rock mining uses a mineral called spodumene, which is collected and processed to create lithium hydroxide directly. This method is becoming more popular in North America, due to the abundance of spodumene ore.

How bad is mining and processing battery materials?

When it comes to a lifecycle assessment on an electric vehicle, making the battery is the worst part. It’s resource intensive - including a lot of water and energy - and can have environmental and humanitarian impacts at mining sites.

Mining and processing of battery materials has earned a reputation for being particularly problematic due to several interconnected environmental, social, and health issues:

Water Consumption and Pollution: Massive quantities of fresh water, classified as a precious resource in arid regions, are diverted for lithium mining operations. Additionally, mineral mining, similar to other industrial mining efforts, often produces pollution that leaches into neighbouring rivers and water sources.

Carbon Emissions: The carbon footprint is substantial - every tonne of mined lithium results in 15 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the environment.

Air Quality and Health: Dust from pulverized rock is known to cause breathing problems for local communities. Cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel are four of the metals most used in the construction of LIBs, and each has known toxicological risks associated with exposure. Mining for these metals poses potential human health risks via occupational and environmental exposures.

Child Labor in Cobalt Mining: The most troubling aspect involves cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where children routinely work in mines, often under hazardous conditions. More than half of the world's supply of cobalt comes from the DRC.

These harms have led to increased focus on supply chain transparency, alternative battery chemistries, and recycling initiatives.

What happens to old EV batteries?

The Current State of Things

First, it's worth noting that as of yet, this is no abundance of old, used EV batteries. As Nissan exec Nic Thomas told Forbes, “Almost all of the [electric car] batteries we’ve ever made are still in cars.” The automotive industry expects batteries to outlast the cars they are put in.

Before Recycling, There’s Reuse

EV batteries are material-intensive and potentially hazardous at their end-of-life (EoL) if not handled and processed with care. Repurposing and recycling batteries can reduce environmental and social impacts of battery production from virgin materials and provide a source of raw materials. Over the short term, recycled materials only represent a small portion of total battery demand, but studies have indicated the potential to supply over 50% of cobalt with recycled material.

When it comes to applications such as in cars, the end of a battery’s life is when it hits 70-80% of its original capacity. For a 100 kWh battery, this means a “dead” battery will still have 70-80 kWh of usable capacity remaining, or roughly enough energy to power the average American home for two+ days. This dead battery is still very useful for non-motorized applications.

One of the most promising uses for old lithium batteries is large-scale battery storage systems that can capture renewable energy when the sun is out or the wind is blowing. When storage systems are built of old batteries, they reduce the net environmental impact of each battery and help green the grid for new EVs.

Other companies are working to prove that used batteries can be useful in large scale scenarios such as shoring up the US electricity grid, which has felt pressure in the past few years due to rising electricity demand during events such as heat waves. Batteries can be used to supply stored energy when demand peaks, supplementing traditional energy plants and delaying investments in new ones until clean energy can fill the void. In Japan, Nissan is repurposing old batteries as backup power for train signals and to power street lights with solar energy generated during the day. Another project in France uses old EV batteries to power a data center.

Unfortunately, all the uses above do not stop the slow march of battery degradation. Eventually, the lithium-ion battery will no longer be useful. At this point, it is time to recycle it.

Battery Recycling

Did you know that the creamy inside of a KitKat is made up of other, crushed KitKats? Soon, lithium-ion batteries may be made up of old lithium batteries, too! Battery recycling is already taking off, especially as the price of lithium and other metals rise in anticipation of a booming battery market.

As you’d suspect, the value of a recycled EV battery is determined by the value of individual components. Recyclers won’t see much value in a component that costs more to recycle than to buy new. The lithium and graphite components are the least valuable parts of a lithium-ion battery, but they also the biggest percent. Cathode metals like cobalt and nickel are highly priced but usually few and far in-between.

Recyclers utilize three major recycling processes:

Importantly, the cost and environmental impact of recycling is a function of where recycling occurs, which includes the specific location of recycling and mode of transportation.

Regulatory Requirements for Scale

Lead-acid battery recycling is considered a major success story in the US, and it can be used as a case study for how to increase lithium battery recycling. Today, 99% of all lead-acid batteries are recycled, and that is due to governmental regulation and subsequent design choices by manufacturers. First, it became illegal to have lead-acid batteries in landfills. Then, knowing that their products would need to be recycled, battery manufacturers began standardizing the design and components of their batteries, so that recycling would be easier and more streamlined. Finally, lead-acid battery recycling became profitable.

The standardization of lead-acid battery design was a big step that allowed the recycling industry to scale. With lithium-ion battery recycling, the major concern is safety and health risks, especially when dealing with high voltage. If all manufacturers were to agree to a common design, labeling, and binding materials, processes and factories can be designed to be more efficient and streamlined.

Recycling in the EU

In the EU, legislation is underfoot to jumpstart lithium-ion battery recycling. First off, battery manufacturers and OEMs are now responsible for handling battery EoL in a way that meets strict environmental and health standards. Since recycling is now their problem, manufacturers are sure to design batteries to make it easy.

Secondly, starting in the next ten years, new lithium-ion batteries must have a minimum amount of recycled components, meeting a recycled content standard (RCS). RCSs mandate a percent of constituent material in a product to be from recycled sources, which can increase recycling rates by creating a market for the reclaimed material. This step will regulate the reuse of battery material, create a market for the recycled materials, and help ensure recycling can be profitable.

Recycling in the US

The US has implemented this type of recycled content standard for the newsprint, plastic, and glass industries, but has not passed or proposed RCSs for lithium-ion batteries. In September 2022, California passed Bill No. 2440, requiring battery producers to create or fund programs for collecting and recycling most batteries sold within California, beginning no later than April 1, 2027.

Safety Initiatives

Although large-scale lithium-ion battery recycling poses health hazards, they can be contained when recycling is approached with the correct knowledge. The ultimate challenge is creating a unified recycling ecosystem that gives everyone easy access to safe, viable recycling options. Collaboration in the space is growing by the day between governments, manufacturers, recyclers, and everyone in between, but the US lags behind other markets in terms of government regulation. As investments continue to pour into the space, we're witnessing a steady rise in the levels of education, accessibility, innovation, and efficiency. The EV space is still relatively underdeveloped, but with planning, the recycling industry can meet the needs of the future.