I was reading [this article](https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/04/lithium-costs-a-lot-of-money-so-why-arent-we-recycling-lithium-batteries/) and I was still a bit confused as to what the problem is. The article mentioned that only 1% of lithium ion batteries are recycled. The lithium batteries seem to be a huge controversy and downside to EVs because of the negative environmental impact. Making lithium ion batteries recyclable would be a huge gamechanger for EVs so I was wondering if someone who knew more could explain why.
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As anyone involved in construction or manufacturing can tell you, destroying something and returning it to its base materials is often a lot more work and more difficult than making it/building it in the first place.
Particularly with batteries separating the materials is actually very difficult, and the sheer volume of lithium ion batteries is insane. I know they’re a hot topic now with the advent of EVs but they’ve been in use for decades and the predominant form of battery for anything from simple electronics to now cars. Have you ever recycled lithium ion batteries? Have you taken the time to take every one you may have, from an alarm clock or old game cartridges or your old laptop and take it to the appropriate place? By contrast lead acid batteries have been phased out for most uses and are now predominantly used in car batteries so there’s many factors in play here. For starters lead acid batteries are very dangerous because, as the name suggests, they have acid inside them, so a leak can prove very hazardous and people know that because they’ve been in use for decades. Since most of them are in cars, and most cars are serviced by mechanics and not their owners, the batteries are swapped and disposed of properly by those shops which have a legal obligation to do so and hefty fines if they don’t. In contrast a random person throwing out a lead acid battery is much more difficult to track down but few people actually handle them and usually leave it to mechanics, or they just take them to garages themselves along with used oil and other fluids. Also since those batteries are big and bulky, separating the lead plates and reusing it is relatively easy. Lithium ion batteries are much smaller and more packed so actually separating their components is more difficult.
However it’s curious that you ask since the article generally explains everything pretty well. The short answer is, recycling is complicated and expensive and recycling infrastructure has not kept up with production.
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