As a product of the global energy transition and the heart of electric vehicles, lithium batteries are seen as a major technological breakthrough capable of changing the fabric of society. The use of lithium batteries in electric vehicles brings a variety of benefits, such as reducing carbon dioxide and harmful gas emissions and lowering people's travel costs. The market for electric vehicles is expanding in China. According to Xinhua News Agency, the total number of electric vehicles in China will be 31.4 million by 2024, representing a rapid growth pattern (Ren, n.d.). However, the use of lithium batteries comes with risks and challenges, and may also raise issues of resource sustainability and environmental damage. This article will describe how lithium batteries work, the drawbacks of their use, and potential breakthroughs at the technological and policy levels.
Structure and working principle of lithium batteries
Lithium batteries were first commercialized in 1991 (Admin, 2025). In addition to being present in electric vehicles, they are widely found in smartphones, laptops, and other electronic devices. Lithium batteries replaced NiCd and Ni-MH technology and became standard in all devices that require portable rechargeable batteries (Admin, 2025). This technology is called the lithium battery because it contains lithium ions, and these ions generate electricity through an electrochemical reaction that powers the car (Everything You Need to Know About Lithium-Ion Electric Vehicle Batteries, 2024). The lithium battery in a car has four main parts: a cathode, an anode, a diaphragm, and an electrolyte. In a lithium battery, the positive and negative sides are like two different storage depots, and there is a diaphragm that separates these two storages. Both storage areas are immersed in the electrolyte, and lithium ions flow freely in the electrolyte. When the battery is powering a device, electrons from the negative side come to the positive side, which is the discharge period. However, when the battery is recharged, the energy provided by the charger sends electrons from the positive side back to the negative side, just like restocking a storage.
Pollution caused by lithium batteries
The public's general impression of lithium batteries is that they are environmentally friendly and sustainable, but lithium batteries don't actually meet the criteria for sustainability. The negative side of lithium batteries has four metals, lithium, manganese, nickel, and cobalt. Lithium and manganese are still abundant in reserves, but lithium mining requires a lot of energy from rocks and a lot of water from brine (Everything You Need to Know About Lithium-Ion Electric Vehicle Batteries, 2024). Cobalt is an even more dangerous and highly toxic heavy metal, and nickel is mined mainly in the Republic of Congo (Everything You Need to Know About Lithium-Ion Electric Vehicle Batteries, 2024). Lithium batteries with toxic metals usually end up in landfills, where the toxins then contaminate local water sources and ecosystems.
Recycling lithium batteries
It is a fact that the metal materials in automotive lithium batteries can be recycled, processed, and reused. In fact, recycled battery materials can be used to manufacture new batteries. Recycling can reduce environmental pollution, reduce manufacturing costs, and save raw materials. However, there is very little recycling going on today. An Australian study shows that only 2% to 3% of lithium batteries are recycled in Australia, and just 5% in the EU and the US (Jacoby, 2019). Because of technological limitations, economic barriers, logistical problems, and regulatory gaps, lithium battery recycling has not yet become a widespread practice (Jacoby, 2019). There are currently two mainstream lithium battery recycling methods: pyrometallurgy and chemical leaching. Pyrometallurgical smelting is based on the principle of smelting metals through high temperatures of about 1500 degrees, but it suffers from the inability to recover lithium, aluminum, and organics, and is prone to the generation of toxic gases and higher energy consumption (Jacoby, 2019). Chemical leaching, a method widely used commercially in China, is based on the principle of using acidic or oxidizing reagents to dissolve metals at low temperatures, but this method again relies excessively on corrosive reagents and may produce secondary pollution (Jacoby, 2019). In order to upgrade recycling methods, some companies and departments are also experimenting with new methods. For example, the Department of Energy's ReCell team is working on a direct recycling method that physically separates battery components by removing the electrolyte through supercritical CO₂ (Direct Recycling of Materials - ReCell Center, n.d.). This method preserves the crystal structure and electrochemical properties of the cathode material and eliminates the need for chemical reagents, as well as reducing costs. The ReLiB project at the University of Birmingham is experimenting with the use of robots to sort and dismantle batteries, improving efficiency and safety (Recycling of Lithium-ion Batteries - University of Birmingham, n.d.).
Summary
The electric vehicle market is currently in a phase of rapid expansion and there is a limited number of used batteries, but we still need to improve our recycling methods ahead of time to prepare for the future. New and emerging methods are still in the research and testing stage, but these recycling methods are progressing from traditional to green, efficient, and cost-effective. We should focus on recycling lithium batteries and not let them become the gasoline of the past.
Reference:
- Admin. (2025, April 17). The electric car: How does its lithium-ion battery work? Renault Group. https://www.renaultgroup.com/en/magazine/energy-and-motorization/the-electric-car-how-does-its-lithium-ion-battery-work/
- Everything You Need to Know about Lithium-Ion Electric Vehicle Batteries. (2024, April 12). Ennovi. https://ennovi.com/lithium-ion-electric-vehicle-batteries-guide/
- Ren, Q. (n.d.). 新华社权威快报丨超3000万辆!我国新能源汽车保有量高速增长-新华网. https://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/20250117/c125bcfa7f3f47aab964b0c9e5d8707d/c.html
- Jacoby, M. (2019, July15). It’s time to recycle lithium-ion batteries. Chemical & Engineering News. https://cen.acs.org/materials/energy-storage/time-serious-recycling-lithium/97/i28
- Direct Recycling ofmaterials - ReCell Center.(n.d.). https://recellcenter.org/research/direct-recycling-of-materials/
- Recycling of lithium-ionbatteries - University of Birmingham. (n.d.). University of Birmingham. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/strategic-elements-and-critical-materials/recycling-of-lithium-ion-batteries