Australia produces around 3,300 tonnes of lithium-ion battery waste each year. We need to tackle this growing issue to keep valuable battery metals and materials from landfill. The market for energy storage and lithium batteries is rapidly rising in Australia and globally. But as the demand increases so to does the waste.
Only four states, namely California, Minnesota, New York and Puerto Rico, have also introduced regulations for the collection and recycling of LIBs. [49 - 52] For example, the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006 introduced the EPR in California.
In regards to energy consumption and its environmental impact on lithium battery recycling, calcination for cobalt recovery, crushing and grinding as well as leaching consume the most energy respectively. On the other hand, steps such as discharging and intermediate steps consume minimum energy and release less emissions.
The amount of lithium (or lithium equivalent) content in a battery or battery pack can be worked out as 0.3 x amp hour capacity. So a 2Ah battery has 0.6 grams of lithium (2 x 0.3) and a typical laptop battery pack with eight 2Ah cells has 4.8 grams (8 units x (0.3 x 2Ah))
Small capacitors, like resistors, are normally discarded as conventional waste. E-waste recycling centers will accept these components for recycling. PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are harmful and should be treated as hazardous waste in oil-filled capacitors. Here are 5 ways you can follow to safely dispose of resistors and capacitors:
If you intend to ship or travel with lithium cells, batteries or battery packs, you will need to know their lithium content. See our Lithium content calculator for quick answers. This applies to lithium metal batteries (disposable) and lithium ion batteries (rechargeable).