Lithium-ion batteries provide energy-rich services for around 10 to 15 years, but are repeatedly criticized due to their dubious environmental balance. They consist of a large number of finite raw materials, most of which are not recycled at the end of the battery life cycle. A resource problem that is catching up with us. In addition to their use in smartphones and notebooks, batteries also play an important role in the automotive industry. With e-mobility on the rise and in view of the average lifespan of batteries, we can expect a sharp increase in the need for disposal and recycling in the mobility sector in the coming years.
Efficient recycling methods and raw material cycles are rare and sometimes in their infancy. Although processes such as pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy can recover up to 90 percent of critical raw materials, they consume enormous amounts of energy and chemicals. “The recycling rate itself is good, but it entails high ecological costs and environmental pollution. Depending on the process, active materials are treated with chemicals or incinerated, so they cannot be recycled,” says Dr. Marco Gleiß from the Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering and Mechanics (MVM), describing the problems. A sustainable recycling approach is needed.
The aim of the DiRecReg joint project coordinated by Gleiß is to develop an automated disassembly process and an agile process chain for direct recycling using the example of traction batteries from electric cars. So far, this approach has not been adopted in either research or industry for a variety of reasons. The material behavior of recovered recyclates cannot be predicted. There are no criteria for assessing the usability of the aged material. Furthermore, there is a lack of cost-effective solutions for disassembling battery packs into their individual components without great effort. These hurdles are addressed and resolved in the project.
