Researchers at Stanford University are exploring ways to reduce the environmental impacts of recycling lithium-ion batteries versus mining virgin metals to create new batteries. The research shows recycling produces less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional mining and uses only about a quarter of the water and energy.

Mining new metals and manufacturing new batteries with such metals is not sustainable, is expensive, often incurs high transportation costs due to distant locations of the metals, and greatly consumes resources such as water and electricity while producing unwanted emissions. 

Battery recyclers recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese and aluminum from two primary sources: manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries. The study found the greatest environmental gains come from recycling manufacturing scrap—cutting emissions to 19% of mining’s footprint, water use to 12% and energy use to 11%.

Recycling benefits depend heavily on battery production facility locations and electricity sources. Plants in regions with clean energy draws on hydropower, geothermal and solar show a stronger climate advantage.

The Stanford team worked their research with Redwood Materials in Nevada¾North America’s largest industrial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility. Redwood’s patented “reductive calcination” process operates at lower temperatures without fossil fuels, improving efficiency and lithium yield. This was key to their findings.

Transportation distances also matter. Mining and refining battery metals can involve 35,000 miles of shipping—compared to roughly 140 miles for recycled batteries in the U.S. market.

The researchers say smart facility siting, low-carbon power and advanced processes can make electric vehicle batteries even more sustainable at a time that needed metals and materials are becoming increasingly costly and difficult to extract, purchase and transport.