Hand disassembly gained’t be supreme as soon as the corporate begins taking in additional supplies, says Andy Hamilton, Redwood’s VP of producing. Finally, Redwood hopes to automate extra of this sorting course of, although constructing automated methods that may cope with the number of batteries the corporate takes in will seemingly be a problem.  

After sorting and disassembly, the batteries that also maintain cost could be loaded onto a conveyor belt and carried up into considered one of 4 huge chambers for a course of referred to as calcination, the place batteries are cooked at excessive temperatures to discharge them and take away solvents.

The fabric is then crushed into powder earlier than it enters the hydrometallurgical course of to separate particular person components. 

Regardless of latest technical progress, recycling gained’t meet demand for battery supplies anytime quickly, says Alissa Kendall, an power methods researcher on the College of California, Davis. Since demand continues to be rising exponentially, recycled batteries will at greatest account for about half the nickel and lithium provide by 2050.

Nonetheless, as battery chemistries evolve, that share may change, as is going on already with cobalt. Batteries in EVs comprise much less cobalt at this time than they used to, and cell makers are constantly discovering methods to make use of even much less of the costly steel. Consequently, recycled cobalt may make up 85% of the availability wanted by 2040, Kendall says.

Even when recycling can’t totally supplant mining, reducing the necessity for extra mines may scale back the social and environmental burden of manufacturing new batteries. Many metals for batteries are mined in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Mining in these areas is usually related to human rights violations, together with pressured and youngster labor, in addition to important air and water air pollution, in keeping with the Worldwide Vitality Company.  

Ready for the battery tsunami

Some within the battery recycling enterprise argue that the business gained’t want a lot coverage help, for the reason that supplies in batteries will probably be invaluable sufficient to justify recycling them. However latest coverage strikes within the US may give recyclers like Redwood an additional enhance. 

Since Redwood’s manufacturing plant is within the US, the corporate could possibly be eligible for manufacturing tax credit within the lately handed Inflation Discount Act. The IRA can even drive demand for uncooked supplies from outfits like Redwood. For vehicles to qualify for $7,500 tax credit, automakers might want to supply their supplies and manufacture their batteries within the US or with free-trade companions.