E-car battery recycling: Second life or hazardous waste?

What happens to old e-car batteries? Can they be recycled or are they just electronic waste? We have dealt with these and other questions. Here you can find out everything you need to know about disposing of e-car batteries.

Battery-powered, modern and sustainable: e-cars are in vogue. But in view of the rapidly growing electromobility, the question arises: What happens to the disused e-car batteries? We asked the expert and explain everything you need to know about recycling and disposing of car batteries in this article.

Bye bye e-car battery! What happens to the removed battery?

The e-car battery has reached the end of its life expectancy and is being expanded. But what happens to the removed battery? Throwing away doesn't have to be! Depending on the condition and their remaining capacity, various options are possible: In order to specifically promote the environment, the 10 u.a. of the circular economy are used.

In the following, we shed light on three central options: repair, repurpose and recycle

Repair means that the battery is repaired or serviced so that it can continue to be used for the same purpose.

Repurpose, in turn, is the possibility of using old parts of the battery in a new product for a new purpose (second life).

The battery is then recycled in order to recover resources of equivalent quality.

E-car battery repair

Not every defective battery or all batteries with a low capacity need to be completely replaced. A repair can also solve possible problems. In this process, individual cells are replaced or their capacities are restored. This is done by cleaning, calibrating and optimizing the electronic system. The battery's electronic system includes components such as the management system, which collects data such as voltage, current and temperature of the individual cells. It also includes charging electronics, overcharge protection, overtemperature protection and a communication system.

What is Second Life?

What happens to a battery whose capacity is no longer sufficient for the required distances, but is otherwise still in good condition? We asked Daniel Christen, Managing Director of the Foundation for Auto Recycling Switzerland: "Such batteries are used for so-called second-life uses." There are various ways to do this:

And if all else fails, the disused e-car battery can also be used as an emergency power supply for medical devices or safety-relevant systems such as alarm systems.

Second life sounds good, but it is not possible in all cases. If a battery is no longer usable at all, it is recycled. In this way, valuable raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel can be recovered. After recovery, these will be used for the production of new lithium-ion batteries. The recycling of raw materials will be absolutely necessary in the future, because mining them is not only very costly, but also harmful to the environment.

E-car battery recycling: How does it work?

Depending on the process and company, the recycling processes can differ. The short version of this complicated procedure: Recycling begins with the manual disassembly of the battery system. Then it is sorted, shredded and thermally melted. Finally, the material is separated. Different processes are often combined in order to recover as much of the valuable raw materials as possible.

Extracting the materials

Daniel Christen explains to us exactly how car batteries are recycled: "There is the so-called pyrometallurgical process, in which the battery is melted down. The individual metals are recovered from the melt. However, plastics, graphite and the electrolyte are lost in the process, as these materials burn in the melting process."

A second process is the hydrometallurgical process. The battery is first mechanically dismantled and disassembled, explains Daniel Christen. The cables, electronics and cooling system are removed, leaving behind the module in which the cells are located. This is shredded and decomposed using other mechanical processes. The aim of this method is to recover the so-called black mass, which contains the critical materials, nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium. According to Daniel Christen, the advantage of the hydrometallurgical process is that lithium and graphite can also be recovered, and therefore the recovery rate is higher than with the pyrometallurgical process. The best results even show a recycling rate of 90 to 95 percent.

Disposal of e-car batteries: This is the state of affairs

The first steps have already been taken at the political level: So far, there has been a regulation that consumers must return any batteries. This also applies to electric car batteries. In addition, manufacturers and importers of the batteries are obliged to take them back free of charge and also have to pay fees if they do not recycle the batteries themselves. In addition, an EU regulation is underway to ensure that batteries can be reused, remanufactured or recycled at the end of their life. But this is not the only reason why Daniel Christen assumes that the raw materials will be recovered.

The second reason is that the raw materials are valuable, which is why recycling is also financially worthwhile. Daniel Christen expects that the hydrometallurgical recycling process will be used most frequently in the future due to the high recovery rate: "This is because the EU is preparing a battery regulation under which a recycling quota must be met." For cobalt, copper and nickel, this is currently 90 percent and later 95 percent. For lithium, it is currently 70 percent and later 90 percent. On the other hand, the regulation also specifies the use of recyclates. This means that new batteries have to be rebuilt to a certain extent with recycled materials.

E-car battery recycling: political efforts and future potential

To sum up: Charging the electric car at home is possible both via the conventional plug and via your own charging stations. However, the wallbox is the easiest and safest method. To find the right solution, good preparation is half the battle by clarifying at an early stage which power grid is available in your home and whether it is compatible with your dream car. You should then definitely consult the appropriate specialists for the installation so that you can enjoy your e-car safely in the long term.

When do batteries have to be disposed of?

In principle, e-car batteries can be used for a very long time. However, the capacity decreases over time, which can reduce the range of the electric car. However, this loss of capacity is far less than that of a mobile phone. Daniel Christen explains: "Our experience shows that batteries usually last as long as the rest of the car." For older electric car models, the service life is about eight to ten years and for newer models 15 to 20 years. But be careful: If there are signs of damage to the battery earlier, the car should be taken to a workshop immediately so that the battery can be replaced. Damage can manifest itself in overheating during charging, damaged or deformed housing, heating when switched off or tarnished or discolored metal parts.

Car battery recycling, Second Life and Co.: Is it worth it?

Currently, not many batteries are recycled. This is partly because many of the batteries have not yet reached the end of their life cycle and are currently being used for second-life applications. In the near future, however, these batteries will be ready for the recycling process. However, in order to ensure this and protect the environment, an expansion of the recycling infrastructure is urgently needed. But in the medium term, the whole thing will also be financially worthwhile, Daniel Christen is convinced of that. He says: "From 2040 onwards, roughly the same number of raw materials should be returned from recycling as there is demand for raw materials for batteries."