Recycled lithium ion batteries

Can lithium ion batteries be recycled?

Lithium-ion batteries and devices containing these batteries should NOT go in household garbage or recycling bins. Lithium-ion batteries SHOULD be taken to separate recycling or household hazardous waste collection points. To prevent fires, tape battery terminals and/or place lithium-ion batteries in separate plastic bags.

How do you recycle a lithium ion battery?

When a lithium-ion battery is providing power, a cluster of lithium ions moves from one crystalline “cage” (the anode) to another (the cathode). The most common methods currently used to recycle these batteries involve dismantling and shredding the whole battery, then either melting it all down or dissolving it in acid.

Where can I drop off a used lithium ion battery?

Instead, EPA recommends that all household lithium batteries be dropped off at battery collection sites (e.g., often located at electronics retailers) or household hazardous waste collection facilities for proper management. The EPA Used Lithium-Ion Batteries web page offers resources to find a battery recycling location near you.

What is reuse & repurposing a lithium-ion battery?

Reuse and repurposing are two similar, environmentally friendly alternatives to recycling or disposal of a lithium-ion battery that no longer meets its user’s needs or is otherwise being discarded. Battery performance degrades over time, but used batteries can still provide useful energy storage for other applications.

Can a new battery be made from a dead lithium-ion battery?

Billions of dead lithium-ion batteries, including many from electric vehicles, are accumulating because there is no cost-effective process to revive them. Now Princeton researchers have developed an inexpensive, sustainable way to make new batteries from used ones and have spun off a company to scale up the innovation.

Should batteries be recycled?

Making sure these smaller lithium-ion batteries get collected and recycled will support the growing battery recycling industry in the U.S. Sending end-of-life batteries for recycling also keeps them out of the household garbage and recycling systems, where they can start fires and endanger workers and nearby communities.