Published on 24 Oct 2023 on The Cool Down via Yahoo Finance

Companies team up to supercharge lithium-ion battery recycling — here’s what it could mean for the...

Nanotech Energy and three other companies are teaming up to introduce recycled metal into lithium-ion battery production.

Lithium-ion batteries are essential components of electric vehicles, and with increasing demand for EVs, demand for these batteries (in terms of overall capacity needed) is projected to increase by 2030 to about seven times the 2022 demand, according to McKinsey. This is clearly a win for the environment, as electric vehicles have drastically reduced pollution footprints compared to conventional passenger vehicles that burn dirty energy sources.

However, lithium-ion batteries have down sides –– the metal used to create them is often mined in destructive ways that produces significant pollution and can hurt local ecosystems. And very few depleted batteries end up recycled, which means that discarded lithium-ion batteries wind up leaking harmful toxins into our environment, according to Freethink.