Characterization of Thecnical and environmental KPIs in Material Recovery Processes for Spent Li-Ion Batteries

Characterization of Thecnical KPIs in Material Recovery Processes for Spent Li-Ion Batteries As society transitions to greener energy solutions and reduces its consumption of primary raw materials, evaluating alternative strategies becomes increasingly important, especially for lithium-ion batteries. The use of these batteries is increasing sharply, and several recycling methods have been developed, with pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy being the most prominent. This study focuses on the latter. A detailed literature review was conducted to examine previous work related to hydrometallurgical recycling. The review covers the entire process—from pretreatment and black mass production (the fine powder derived from spent batteries) to filtration steps—and the technical and environmental KPIs that earlier studies have investigated. Building on this foundation, the thesis introduces a methodological framework outlining the main equations and approaches used to calculate relevant technical and environmental KPIs in material recovery processes. This framework provides a structured basis for evaluating process efficiency and environmental performance. An independent analysis was conducted using secondary data and findings from previous research, drawing from the literature. The case study focuses on the environmental aspects of lithium recovery through hydrometallurgy and assesses the process's sustainability via a process-oriented life cycle assessment using openLCA. The analysis accounts for data uncertainties to provide a more robust evaluation.