Power Play: The Circular Economy of Battery Recycling

How many batteries do you think you’ve used in your lifetime? Where do you use those batteries in your daily life? Where do they all go when they reach the end of life?

Batteries power so many aspects of our lives: our vehicles, smartphones, computers, the grid, and a wide variety of digital devices.

The average person uses hundreds of batteries in their lifetime. Many of them are in devices they use every day.

Materials:

• Chart paper or digital tools, smart board projector, etc.
• Digital or paper journal to record thinking
• Internet access
• YouTube Video: Learning With Dave Part 2

Safety Notes:

• When using technology, engage in safe, legal, and ethical behavior; this applies to devices (hardware), applications or programs (software), and interactions with others.
• Take care when handling batteries and follow the teacher's directions.

KEY SAFETY NOTES and Background Information:

• Batteries SHOULD NEVER go into curbside recycling bins.
• Batteries can be dangerous if damaged, causing a fire risk through internal reactions or a chemical contamination risk if contents leak out.
• Lithium batteries can undergo thermal runaway (rapid heat increases), which can cause a fire.
• Look for signs of damage like bulging, cracking, twisting, leaking, etc.
• Alkaline batteries can be recycled into materials used in fertilizers.
• Lithium-ion batteries are made of valuable metals such as lithium, copper, manganese, cobalt, and nickel.
• Retired lithium-ion batteries are shredded into "black mass," a key part of material recovery.

Inside a Battery

Take a close look at this photograph.

Figure 1: Battery-Grade Salts image provided courtesy of Cirba Solutions

In your digital or paper journal, write down the answers to the following questions:

Encourage students to look closely and describe what they see. Then introduce the video to build on their observations.

Watch this YouTube short: How Do We Recycle Lithium-ion Batteries at Veolia?

Sourcing Materials

Take a look at these two images of lithium extraction.

Figure 2: Aerial view of a lithium mine

Figure 3: Brine pools for lithium mining

To understand what happens at the end of a battery's life, we need to go back to the beginning. The materials in the batteries, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, are removed from the Earth through large-scale mining and extraction processes. As you look at the images, think about what it takes to get these materials in the first place, especially as our technology advances and our demand for batteries and critical minerals to power the batteries grows.

Looking Deeper: The Sorting Process

Figure 4: The sorting process (image courtesy of Cirba Solutions)

Think About It

As workers sort batteries by chemistry and format, what challenges do you notice? Why can’t batteries simply be tossed in the trash or curbside recycling bins?

Ask students to think about why sorting is such a critical step. What happens if the wrong battery type is mixed in?

Figure 5: Recycling Collection boxes and kiosks (Images courtesy of Cirba Solutions)

If we can’t simply throw batteries away or place them in curbside recycling, why are resources such as battery collection kits and kiosks an important part of the battery recycling and critical mineral refinement process? 

Once batteries are no longer used, they need to be collected, handled, and transported safely with Department of Transportation (DOT) guidelines. Battery recycling kiosks were designed by recycling companies to give people easy and increased access to drop off used batteries instead of throwing them in the trash or curbside recycling bins, which increases risks associated with lithium-ion batteries. Once those batteries are safely collected and packaged, they are moved to certified recycling facilities that are specifically designed to handle end-of-life and DDR batteries, sort by chemistry and format, process the materials, and extract the critical minerals to be used over and over again. Collecting and transporting  used batteries from homes, to kits/kiosks, to a certified recycling center is a key part of the system. 

Figure 6: A truck transports batteries to a facility (Image courtesy of Cirba Solutions)

Breaking Down The Materials

Figure 7: Black mass (image courtesy of Cirba Solutions)

Think About It

Take a look at this material. What do you think this material is? Why might it look like this and still be valuable? 

After lithium batteries are processed, a material called black mass is produced. It might not look like much, but it contains incredibly valuable materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt, etc. that can be recovered, refined,  and reused. This step is what makes recycling so important. Recycling turns waste into a resource. And this is where the process comes full circle. These materials can be extracted from used batteries  again and again to produce new batteries. 

Black mass, the material you get once lithium batteries are shredded and processed, contains a variety of materials such as:

• Lithium
• Cobalt
• Nickel
• Manganese
• Graphite

These materials are used to make new lithium batteries. 

Dive into Data

Explore these official data sets to investigate trends in minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel:

• International Energy Agency
• U.S. Geological Survey

In your digital or paper journal, respond to the following investigation:

Circular Economy

This entire process is part of a circular economy. If we do not treat batteries as waste, something simply to throw away, then the materials inside used batteries can be recovered and processed to be used again and again. This reduces the amount of lithium, cobalt, and nickel being mined from the Earth. In a circular system, materials are moving through a closed-loop instead of being used and thrown away.

This is a good point to pause and have students predict what happens next. What do they think black mass is used for?

Reflection

• Why is battery recycling important?
• How does battery recycling affect our environment, future technology development, and increase domestic supply chains and national security?

Extension

Focus on a circular system rather than a linear one.

Create a sketch, slide, or model that shows how a battery moves through the circular system.

Students might point out people not recycling batteries, safety issues, etc.

Be sure to include:

• Where materials begin (extraction and sourcing)
• How batteries are used in our everyday lives
• What happens after use (collection and transportation)
• How materials are recovered (processing, black mass) 
• How materials are reused (new batteries or products)

Show where the system can break down or face challenges. 

Students might point out people not recycling batteries, safety issues, etc.

Then answer:

• What is one challenge in the system?
• What is a realistic way to improve it?

Wrap-Up Reflection

Answer this question: Why is it important to keep materials moving in a closed-loop instead of starting over every time?