Battery recycling

Battery recycling

From the beginning of the millennium, we have been witnessing a continuous technological progress that enhanced mobility and facilitated the transition from wired to mobile products, such as Etools, laptops and cellphones. It has also contributed to the development of urban transportation, such as electric bikes and scooters, electric vehicles and hybrids.
Though the increase in the use of these products has significantly improved our quality of life, it has also created new environmental challenges arising from the sharp increase in the amount of rechargeable battery waste. Battery life depends on a number of parameters, including battery type, its power, the way it’s used, etc. In most cases, a battery’s life span ends within a few years until it becomes waste.
Batteries contain toxic substances that pollute the environment. When a battery starts to decay, it releases a variety of substances that emit toxic greenhouse gases into the air. An old, unused battery in our living area will adversely affect our quality of life if handled incorrectly. For example, if a battery is thrown into a regular waste bin, it is highly likely that it will be buried in a landfill, which, in turn, will pollute the groundwater that we will drink in the future, as well as kill living creatures in the water and general ecosystem. That is why it is important to properly manage the battery disposal process.
Recycling batteries and their proper treatment is one of the most important issues in the field of recycling.
We at All Recycling operate according to the strictest industry procedures.
Following are the types of batteries commonly found in electronics today:

1. An alkaline battery is a type of primary battery that derives energy from the reaction between zinc and manganese dioxide (MnO2). The battery gets its name because it has an alkaline electrolyte of potassium hydroxide (KOH). Alkaline batteries have a higher energy density (amount of energy per unit volume) compared with other batteries of similar voltages. Most of the primary batteries (not designed for recharging) are alkaline batteries used for toys, flashlights, small electronic devices, etc. The global production volume is about 10 billion batteries per year.
   
   
2. A nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery is a secondary battery in which the electrodes are made of nickel and metal alloys. It is the most common model of rechargeable batteries in small electrical appliances. These batteries replaced the older and more toxic nickel-cadmium batteries. The chemical reaction at the positive electrode is similar to that of the nickel-cadmium, with both using nickel oxide hydroxide (NiOOH). However, the negative electrodes use a hydrogen-absorbing alloy instead of cadmium.
   Nickel metal hydride batteries can have two to three times the capacity of nickel-cadmium batteries of the same size, with significantly higher energy density, close to that of lithium-ion batteries. NiMH batteries are the main component in hybrid cars and some all-electric vehicles. These batteries are a solution to the deficit of rare raw materials that are mostly found in China; thus, the price of the cars can be lowered. As of 2011, two million hybrid cars were using these batteries. Today, in some cases, the nickel metal hydride batteries are being replaced by the lithium-ion batteries.
   
   
3. A lithium metal battery is a type of primary disposable battery that consist of lithium compounds or pure lithium (Li). Lithium batteries differ from other batteries in their lifespan, small size and quality. Consequently, the price of lithium batteries is high compared to other types of batteries. The lithium cells of the battery can produce voltages from 1.5 V to about 3.7 V. The battery requires from 0.15 to 0.3 kg of lithium per kWh (kilowatt-hour).
   
   
4. A lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is a rechargeable electric battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions that flow from the negative electrode (the anode, where the oxidation process occurs), through an electrolyte that conducts only lithium ions, to the positive electrode (the cathode, where redox occurs). During discharge, an oxidation half-reaction at the anode produces positively charged lithium ions together with negatively charged electrons which flow from the anode towards the cathode through the external circuit. During charging these reactions and transports go in the opposite direction i.e. lithium ions flow from the cathode to the anode.
   The term lithium-ion is used to emphasize that in these batteries the anode is made of a material containing lithium ions which allows the passage of such ions from it and to it during discharge and charging, as opposed to lithium batteries where the anode is made of metallic lithium. The vast majority of lithium-ion batteries are used in portable electronic devices thanks to their high energy density, high number of discharge/charge cycles and low loss of capacity during the cycles. The main intended use for these batteries is to run the engines in electric vehicles, where the technology of fully electric vehicles (FEV) is based on direct drive from a rechargeable battery.
   In the distant past (end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century), and even in the 1990s, the propulsion of “fully” electric vehicles was based on a lead-acid battery. This battery has a low specific energy of about 30-40 W/kg which limits the electric travel range. The lithium-ion battery is almost unique in its ability to provide high energy and power density at the same time; it has a high specific energy of c. 200-250 W/kg and specific power of c. 250–340 W/kg. The latter is a very important parameter for electric vehicles, since it affects the vehicle’s ability to accelerate quickly and reach high speeds.
   
   
   
   

All Recycling operates in accordance with the electronic waste recycling law; it collects, sorts, packs and handles all the types of batteries mentioned above.
As for the Li-ion batteries, the company took sustainability one step further and developed a new and unique patent for their recycling. These batteries constitute and will continue to constitute the largest share of the battery market, due to an increase in demand for applications in the transportation sector (cars, bicycles and scooters). This share also defines the size of waste these batteries are expected to produce. If Li-ion batteries are not treated properly, they pose a great danger to the environment; they are highly flammable and may also cause damage to the groundwater by emitting cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel into their surroundings.
Proper recycling means environmental protection and process safety; it also constitutes a kind of an “urban mine” for rare and sought-after metals.

The main steps of the method include:

• Discharging the battery with a chemical substance: The batteries are discharged to prevent any remaining electrical energy from causing a safety hazard during the recycling process. After soaking, the batteries are washed in running water and dried in hot air at a temperature not exceeding 60°C.
• Physical shredding and sorting: After shredding, the battery’s components are sorted into iron, copper, and Black Mass.
• Hydrometallurgical process: The Black Mass undergoes a hydrometallurgical process which includes leaching or solvent extraction, to recover valuable metals, such as cobalt, nickel, graphite, and lithium carbonate.
• Refining: The recovered metals are refined to a purity level suitable for reuse in new batteries or other applications