As the world shifts away from gas to electric-powered products like electric vehicles, lawnmowers, and electric power tools, the amount of used, end-of-life lithium batteries is growing. However, recycling processes for lithium batteries tend to be a little pricey and energy-intensive, with high environmental impacts.
A U.K.-based startup has found a way to more sustainably recycle lithium batteries without all the bells and whistles of a traditional lithium battery recycling facility, Interesting Engineering reported.
Cellcycle uses engineered bacteria and other proprietary technologies to break down used lithium batteries and recover essential minerals for new ones.
This recycling method is called biomining or bioleaching, which involves using microorganisms to extract metals from solid materials like ores. Biomining has been used industrially to extract copper from waste rocks in mines as early as the mid-1960s. However, bacteria, which have the natural function of decomposing or degrading materials, have been around for millions of years.
Max Nagle, marketing manager at Cellcycle, wondered why no one had thought to use the biomining technology on lithium batteries to reduce lithium battery waste.
"Bacteria have a proven track record in other areas and industries, and are capable of recovering every kind of critical mineral you can think of. These bacteria have existed longer than humankind, they're 50 million years old and have shaped our coasts, islands, the way that metal is formed and produced," Nagle said, according to Interesting Engineering.
"Why has nobody adapted this for something that is so manmade, like a battery?"
In November 2020, Cellcycle was launched as the dedicated battery recycling arm of the SER Group, a leading recycler of IT and electronic waste in the U.K. Cellcycle not only aimed to increase the recycling rates of popular lithium batteries, but if successful, the company also hoped to reduce the U.K.'s reliance on international battery recycling countries like China.
Creating a closed, circular economy for lithium batteries by continuously recycling the valuable minerals in them saves the effort, cost, and environmental damage of mining the earth for additional raw materials. This also keeps electronic waste out of landfills, preventing harmful chemical substances, including known neurotoxicants, from leaching into the environment and causing harm to human health.
Recycling lithium batteries also makes future batteries more affordable to produce — such as electric vehicle batteries, which makes owning an electric vehicle more affordable and more attractive for consumers. As the EV battery life cycle becomes less wasteful, EVs can continue to contribute to a cleaner environment with zero tailpipe pollution and a reduced carbon footprint.
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Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics?
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Giving me money back 💰 Since its start in 2020, Cellcycle has been quite successful.
In less than three years' time, SER acquired a second battery recycling facility capable of processing 75,000 metric tons of battery material. In 2023, the company also won grant funding to scale up Europe's first bio-remediation battery recycling facility. Last year, Cellcycle launched a pilot-scale bio-remediation facility for battery recycling.
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