The cost will come down further with scale. The great thing about that is that dead lithium batteries will have value, so people will be much less inclined to throw them in the trash or dump them elsewhere
New tech pulls lithium from dead batteries cheaper than you can buy it
Submitted 1 day ago by kiol@discuss.online to technology@lemmy.world
https://newatlas.com/energy/lithium-battery-recapture/
Comments
Munkisquisher@lemmy.nz 1 day ago
dublet@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
The great thing about that is that dead lithium batteries will have value
One day with my mountain of disused electronics, I will strike it rich.
someguy3@lemmy.world 1 day ago
What’s more, the researchers say the method is much more affordable than other battery-based lithium-harvesting techniques, costing about US$12.70 per kilogram of lithium recovered.
That’s in comparison to acid leaching, which runs about $81-462 per kilogram and produces chemical waste, and high-heat smelting, which costs $36-126 per kilogram and is more inefficient at separating out lithium from other elements. Based on these findings, the team says its method could be the first commercially viable way to recapture lithium from dead batteries.
Indeed, according to Daily Metal Prices, lithium costs $13.17 per kilo on the open market as of the time of writing. So this method actually comes out cheaper than just buying the stuff.
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Blocked: adblock detected, wouldn’t load the page
kiol@discuss.online 1 day ago
Regna@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Marginally lower cost over 500 possible cycles under ideal conditions… this does not take into account other pollutants it may cause or the human element. Still, very positive as a total, as this is a resource a way hitherto untapped (unless you count risky social media innovatives who almost burn up their homes making lithium batteries from vapes and whatnot).
someguy3@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Mining costs are probably subject to more increases, as things get harder to access and environmental laws tighten
Regna@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Without this kind of progress described (meaning reutilising, refining or reprocessing lithium), mining might become even more brutal to keep costs down for investors and corporate buyers, but remain ever more expensive for consumers.