Li-ion Battery Recycling Technology to Boost Circular Economy | 07 Jun 2023

Why in News?

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in India has taken a significant step towards promoting a circular economy by transferring a cost-effective Li-ion battery recycling technology to nine recycling industries and start-ups.

• The technology was developed under the "Centre of Excellence on E-waste management" at the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Hyderabad, in collaboration with the Government of Telangana and industry partner M/s Greenko Energies Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad.
• This initiative is part of the Mission Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) under the "Promote circularity campaign."

What is the Recently Invented Recycling Technology?

• The recycling technology for Li-ion batteries is designed to efficiently process and recover valuable materials from discarded batteries.
• The process begins by soaking the batteries in a solution to extract the valuable metals.
  • The solution aids in the separation and extraction of metals such as Lithium (Li), Cobalt (Co), Manganese (Mn), and Nickel (Ni), enabling the recovery of over 95% of their contents in the form of corresponding oxides/carbonates with a purity of approximately 98%.
• These metals are then transformed into their pure forms, ready to be reused in making new batteries or other useful applications.
• This technology ensures that over 95% of these valuable metals are recovered from batteries.
• By recycling the batteries, we can reduce the need for mining new resources and contribute to a more sustainable environment.
• The recycling technology for Li-ion batteries plays a crucial role in promoting a circular economy.

What is a Li-ion Battery?

• About:
  • A lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is a type of rechargeable battery.
  • Li-ion batteries use an intercalated (Intercalation is the reversible inclusion or insertion of a molecule into materials with layered structures) lithium compound as one electrode material, compared to the metallic lithium used in a non-rechargeable lithium battery.
  • The battery consists of an electrolyte, which allows for ionic movement, and the two electrodes are the constituent components of a lithium-ion battery cell.
  • Lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge and back when charging.

• Applications:
  
  • Electronic gadgets, Tele-communication, Aerospace, Industrial applications.
  • Lithium-ion battery technology has made it the favourite power source for electric and hybrid electric vehicles.
• Disadvantages of Li-ion Batteries:
  • Long charging times.
  • Safety issues as instances of batteries catching fires have been there.
  • Expensive to manufacture.
  • While the Li-ion batteries are seen as sufficiently efficient for applications such as phones and laptops, in case of EVs, these cells still lack the range that would make them a viable alternative to internal combustion engines.

Source: PIB