US seeks ways to recycle lithium batteries in cars, phones

CHICAGO  — The U.S. government will lead an ambitious effort to develop technologies to recycle lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles, cellphones and other sources to ensure a reliable and affordable supply of metals crucial to battery production in anticipation of soaring global demand and potential shortages, Department of Energy officials said Friday.

Calling the effort a national security issue, the agency announced a $15-billion, three-year research and development project housed at the Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago. The collaboration between Argonne, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and several universities also is an attempt to catch up with China and other countries that manufacture and recycle the vast majority of lithium-ion batteries, including those shipped back from the U.S., officials said.

U.S. dependence on other countries for metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite, as well as finished batteries, “undermines our national security” because the source countries are not always close allies, said Daniel R. Simmons, assistant secretary of the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

But the demand for lithium-ion batteries also is driving the effort. With U.S. automakers set to expand production of electric vehicles over the next 10 years, and batteries from existing electric vehicles nearing the end of their useful lives, it’s time to figure out how to recycle them in the U.S, said Jeff Spangenberger, director of the new recycling center, called the ReCell Center.

The center will focus on developing a process to allow recovered material to be put directly back into new batteries without having to break it down into their core components.

“We’ve done a lot of analysis … and if we don’t recycle, we will run out of materials,” Spangenberger said.  “(And) if we had a steady supply from recycled materials, we would reduce the risk.”