CASE STUDY EV BATTERIES REUSE AND RECYCLE Electric vehicles are considered beneficial for climate protection. However, the expected large increase in the presence of electric batteries in the automotive sector in coming years will pose the challenge of how to deal with the batteries when their first useful life is finished. Used batteries The estimated number of used EV batteries available will increase from 50,000 in the year 2020 to 150 million in the year 2035. Once the battery is removed from the vehicle, it cannot be treated as waste. In this situation, the battery industry is facing two options: Redirect the battery to a second life-use circuit where the useful life is extended, providing alternative energy storage services. Transfer the battery to a recycling circuit where a large percentage of valuable components are and reused to manufacture new batteries. retrieved Reuse EV battery reuse represents an opportunity to increase its lifetime until its full operational life is completed. This life enlargement could: Avoid the manufacture of new batteries for these secondary uses and, consequently, Reduce the potential environmental burden. Recycle The option of recycling is useful for ecological reasons and from an economical perspective, as it is profitable to regain precious materials from the exhausted battery system. There are two ways of recycling batteries: Pyrometallurgy and smelting Hydrometallurgy They are either used separately or in combination with each other. The main objective is to recover the high added-value metals such as cobalt, copper, nickel, lithium, aluminium, manganese, and iron. 6. A battery life in a circular economy perspective: complete the drawing with the words given below. battery production · end of life (x2) · EV use · first life · extended use phase · landfill · manufacture · material extraction · material recovery · recycling · second life · residential usage · stationary storage · urban e-mobility · use phase · waste management GLOSSARY : : burden carico to retrieve recuperare
