Prospects for managing end-of-life lithium-ion batteries: Present and future

Abstract

The accelerating electrification has sparked an explosion in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) consumption. As the lifespan declines, the substantial LIBs will flow into the recycling market and promise to spawn a giant recycling system. Nonetheless, since the lack of unified guiding standard and nontraceability, the recycling of end-of-life LIBs has fallen into the dilemma of low recycling rate, poor recycling efficiency, and insignificant benefits. Herein, tapping into summarizing and analyzing the current status and challenges of recycling LIBs, this outlook provides insights for the future course of full lifecycle management of LIBs, proposing gradient utilization and recycling-target predesign strategy. Further, we acknowledge some recommendations for recycling waste LIBs and anticipate a collaborative effort to advance sustainable and reliable recycling routes.