Direct recycling of lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles for closed-loop life cycle impact mitigation

Direct recycling of lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles aims to close the loop of battery manufacturing. This study presents a novel process-based life cycle assessment model for studying the environmental impacts associated with the direct recycling for closed-loop production of lithium ion battery relative to the conventional open-loop battery manufacturing. A 66 kWh NMC-graphite battery pack is analyzed using directly recycled NMC and graphite for the closed-loop manufacturing. The results show that the closed-loop manufacturing via direct recycling can reduce environmental impacts by up to 54% over the conventional open-loop manufacturing of lithium ion battery for electric vehicles.