Environmental

Recycling of lithium batteries

Lithium batteries are primary or non-rechargeable batteries. These are household batteries and used mainly in cameras, calculators, watches, computers etc. It’s popular because of its small size and high power. The first step in lithium battery recycling is to remove the residual electricity from the reactive batteries. Then the batteries are subjected to cryogenic treatment and cooled to minus 325 degrees. Once frozen, batteries are safely shredded and materials are separated. The metals are sold to metal recycling. Lithium is extracted by flooding the battery chambers in a caustic bath that dissolves lithium salts. Hazardous electrolytes are neutralized to form stable components. Lithium components are separated and converted to lithium carbonate, a fine white powder that is used to make lithium ingot metal and foil for batteries. Lithium metal obtained is resold and used in the manufacture of sulphur dioxide batteries. Residual plastic casting is sent for appropriate recycling. Recovered carbon is pressed into moist sheets of carbon cake. If batteries contain cobalt, it is also recovered for reuse. To ensure safety, most of the process of recycling batteries is done by machine.