lifetime

Lithium-ion batteries are used to power computers and cellphones and, increasingly, vehicles. The batteries contain lithium as well as various other valuable metals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. Like other batteries, lithium-ion batteries have a finite lifetime before they can no longer perform their intended function.

Recycling lithium-ion batteries to recover their critical metals is an alternative to mining those metals. A recent study by Stanford University analyzed the environmental impact of obtaining those metals using lithium-ion battery recycling compared with mining. They found that the recycling process is associated with less than half of the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional mining. The process uses about one-fourth of the water and energy of mining new metals. North America’s largest industrial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility is Redwood Materials, located in Nevada, which uses a clean energy mix that includes hydropower, geothermal, and solar power.

These calculated advantages are associated with recycling batteries that have been in use. The advantages are even greater for recycling scrap: defective material from battery manufacturers.

The advantages of recycling are dependent on the sources of electricity at the recycling plant and the availability of fresh water.

At present, the U.S. recycles about half of its available lithium-ion batteries. By comparison, 99% of lead-acid batteries (like those found in cars and trucks) have been recycled for decades. As the supply of used lithium-ion batteries continues to increase, it is important for the availability of industrial-scale battery recycling to keep pace.

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Recycling lithium-ion batteries delivers significant environmental benefits

Photo, posted May 7, 2020, courtesy of Mark Vletter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

It is inevitable that the things we make and use eventually outlive their useful lives and become waste that we have to deal with. Solar panels, despite their impressively long lifetime, can’t escape this general principle. As pioneering solar panels near the end of their 30-year electronic lives, they could well become the world’s next big wave of e-waste.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, nearly 90 million tons of solar panels will have reached their end of life by the year 2050, resulting in about 7 million tons of new solar e-waste per year.

Solar photovoltaic deployment has grown at unprecedented rates in recent years. The total global installed capacity is about 600 GW today; projections are that there will be 1,600 GW by 2030 and 4,500 GW by 2050.

Solar panels contain valuable materials, including silver and high-purity silicon. But current recycling procedures are not cost-effective. Only about 10% of panels are currently recycled in the U.S. The rest go to landfills or are shipped overseas to become another country’s problem.

Before solar waste becomes a major problem, the industry needs to better address the issue. Strategies include improving the design of panels to align with recycling capabilities as well as developing new recycling methods that can more efficiently extract and purify the valuable materials in the panels. Industry researchers are also looking into ways to repair and resell panels that are still in good condition and to repurpose old panels for less demanding functions like e-bike charging stations and housing complexes.

Like most things, solar panels do fail over time and with a rapidly growing number of them in the world, we need to figure out how to avoid them adding to the world’s problems.

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Solar Panels Are Starting to Die. Will We be Able to Recycle the E-Waste?

Photo, posted January 6, 2006, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.