The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) reports that lithium-ion batteries are most dangerous at the end of their useful life. If not handled correctly during the collection, disposal, or recycling process or when positive and negative poles touch each other Li-ion batteries can explode.
Snuffing out the fire is not as easy as dousing it with water but through cutting off the air supply to let it burn in a controlled manner.
Increasing demands for Li-ion batteries
The ISSU article, “Li-ion: an invaluable asset with little regulation,” reports that aside from phones, demands for EV’s will increase the production of li-ion batteries.
The International Energy Agency estimates up to 125 million cars will come out by 2030; 90% of them will have li-ion for batteries. Up to 1 million EV batteries will reach their end of life by 2027.
As more Li-ion batteries show up in recycle and disposal facilities, demands for safe and efficient disposal, reuse, and recycling facilities to cater to these batteries will also increase.
In Germany, Li-ion batteries tripled between 2009 to 2017, from 3 thousand tons to 10 thousand tonnes. The International Solid Waste Association sent an open-ended questionnaire to its members across Europe to determine the problem’s scale and look for solutions.
The responses they got confirmed the fire risks from Li-ion batteries; however, few respondents were able to quantify the scale of the problem.
Fires recorded from Lithium-ion batteries
The ISSU article enumerates recorded fire events linked to Li-ion batteries. It involved a refuse collection vehicle fleet in East Northamptonshire, battery storage and sorting facilities in France and the UK, and two Boeing 787 planes when both its power supplies ignited. One is parked while the other in mid-flight has to do an emergency landing to the nearest airport.
A survey by the UK Environmental Services Association found that from 2019 to 2020, 145 out of 670 fires were directly linked to Li-ion batteries. And another 112 fires are suspected of having been caused by Li-ion batteries.
In 2016, 2.5 million Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was voluntarily recalled due to at least 35 cases of smartphone battery explosions.
Lifecycle of a Lithium-ion battery
According to EVreporter, EV batteries have four lifecycle stages:
- First life refers to the original application of the battery. EV batteries have a life expectancy between 5 to 10 years, depending on some factors. Once the battery performance degrades, it is replaced by a new battery pack. The spent battery can either be disposed of, repurposed, or recycled.
- Second life. After its first application, batteries still have 70-80% remaining storage capacity. It can be re-manufactured for less intensive use as power storage for a solar plant. But before repurposing, batteries must undergo a state of health (SoH) for suitability.
- End of life. When the battery has exhausted all its storage capacity, it will be sent to a recycling facility.
- Recycling. The batteries are taken apart to recapture metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, aluminium and copper.
Need for a Lifecycle Management for Li-ion Batteries
According to the article, as EVs proliferate and renewable energy expands, so will the production of lithium-ion batteries.
There are many risks involved during the lifecycle of the batteries, especially towards the end of life when batteries are disposed of, reused, and recycled. Lifecycle management will ensure that the batteries are used efficiently and identify the risks and challenges across all four life stages.
China is leading in the recycling of Li-ion batteries. South Korea follows, and India will expand its recycling industry.
Research to improve recycling efficiency is happening around the world, the article says. In January 2019, the US Department of Energy opened its Li-ion recycling center – ReCell, investing $15 million to stave off dependence on other countries to recycle for them.
UK’s ReLiB also brings researchers and industry experts together to work on Li-ion battery efficiency. Canada’s Li-cycle claims to develop a technology that can recover between 80 to 100% of the resources from lithium-ion batteries.
Research and development in battery recycling are happening globally, aside from China; this can boost battery recycling, an industry that will soon see rapid growth.
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