Strategies and Advances in Recycling Processes of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries for a Sustainable Resource

Yuhan Guo#, Yiru Chen#, Susmi Anna Thomas, Liang Wang, Baiqing Zhu, Jiahua Bi, Yu Li, Junqing Pan*

DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2026.123418

Abstract

With the rapid growth of the consumption of new energy vehicles, the amount of waste lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has surged exponentially. These spent LIBs contain valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, offering significant recycling value while simultaneously imposing substantial environmental pressures. At present, a bottleneck in the recycling process is achieving a balance between cleanliness and efficiency. Consequently, developing clean and efficient recycling technologies is crucial for safeguarding strategic resource security and achieving environmental sustainability. Addressing the substantial research output in this field over recent years, this paper provides a systematic review of the latest advances in waste LIBs recycling processes, with particular focus on carbon emissions across different technological pathways. The paper examines the technical principles and current status of physical methods, chemical methods (including hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy), and combined recycling processes. From a sustainability perspective, this review provides a boundary-aware multidimensional assessment of representative recycling routes by considering carbon emissions, energy and chemical consumption, secondary environmental burdens, product quality, process complexity, technological maturity, and techno-economic feasibility. On this basis, the review identifies the key trade-offs and future directions for moving from single-unit operation optimization toward integrated, short-process, and reagent-efficient recycling systems that better balance resource recovery, product quality, technoeconomic feasibility, and low-carbon performance.

Keywords

waste LIBs; hydrometallurgy; carbon emissions; recycling technologies; multidimensional sustainability assessment

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