ranging from ethical to environmental . Even with LFP batteries, you'd still need to mine for the raw lithium to use and this is why lithium battery recycling is going to be a hot business to get started in. Well, at least when there is enough supply to meet the demands of these recyclers. You may think that the batteries sourced from modern electronics would suffice, but that's just not the case.
Even though lithium-based batteries were invented in 1976, their use wasn't adopted until they were stable enough to be used and that didn't come until the 1980s. Even then, it wasn't until 1991-1992 when Sony produced the first lithium-ion battery for commercial use in their electronics, particularly video cameras. Even then, the amount of lithium-based batteries used in electronics just doesn't compare to the needs of EVs.
Everyone in the battery recycling world is fighting for theirs and many aren't in the business to resell recycled battery materials. In the capitalist world, the highest bidder will always win out, even if the greater good of recycling for reusable minerals from those batteries loses. What's the solution? For now, there are only two. The first is to cut the recycled materials with new minerals.
According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, 78 percent of the available scrap supply will be coming from manufacturing waste, while end-of-life batteries will account for 22 percent by 2025. By the mid-to-late 2030s, the firm expects that the volume of used batteries from EVs will hit a point that they won't have to rely so heavily on manufacturing waste materials.