Turns out electric cars also pollute the environment: How to handle all waste batteries?

Without recycling, the waste batteries of electric cars can turn into mountains of trash.

Electric cars are a key element in tackling the lurking climate problem. With more electric vehicles on the road and less gasoline-guzzling vehicles, drivers will burn less fossil fuels, thereby emitting less harmful gases - which is a reason for global warming. . But with the growing popularity of electric vehicles, they become an environmental problem themselves: what should we do about the battery life of electric vehicles.

Potential mountains of waste from electric vehicle waste batteries.

Waste batteries are gradually becoming a problem

Waste batteries are gradually becoming a problem, the statement is based on a new scientific report published in Nature earlier this month. We certainly need to recycle a large number of batteries, but the harvest of useful materials from lithium-ion batteries of electric vehicles is still very difficult and dangerous. Fortunately, we still have a chance to improve that. The author of the report said that institutional changes - such as battery designs for recycling and the use of machines to remove batteries automatically - could completely replicate the battery recycling industry. At the same time, these improvements can make electric cars even more environmentally friendly by using old batteries to create new batteries.

More than one million electric cars were sold in 2017 worldwide. The study author predicted that only that vehicle would produce as much as 250,000 tons of waste batteries. If this waste is buried, "heat" can occur, causing a chemical reaction to heat up the battery and lead to fire. (That's why the US Transportation Security Department prohibits lithium-ion batteries from being included in checked baggage when passengers use the airway.)

Waste batteries - a time bomb if not handled properly.

But a landfill that explodes is not the only reason we should not throw away old batteries. Old batteries are still very useful for a long time after being taken out of the car. Like a phone, over time, the battery of an electric car will become bottled and cannot be charged effectively anymore. So drivers will need a new battery or a new car. However, the old battery can still be charged up to 80% compared to when it was released, opening a door of new hope.

This year, Toyota launched a project to connect old electric vehicle batteries to solar panels to power 7-Eleven stores in Japan. With the money made from this reuse, finding a second use method has completely overwhelmed the recycling effort.

Solar battery.

"If you make it profitable, someone will do it."

" If you make it profitable, someone will do it. At this time, no method has been used, no facility [for recycling electric vehicle batteries] is working, so profitability of this business is easy to see, "Linda Gaines said - co-authored with the stated text and is a systems analyst at Argonne National Laboratory. The facility is a research center operated by the University of Chicago and the US Department of Energy.

Gaines and the co-author of the document realized an opportunity to address the new battery demand for electric vehicles by using materials from old batteries. The lithium battery of an electric vehicle is made of cobalt metal, a mineral mined mainly in the Congo. But the rising demand for cobalt has led to a series of allegations of child labor and countless consequences for society and the environment due to exploitation. So for research author Gavin Harper, a researcher at the University of Birmingham, recycling batteries and using their precious materials for other manufacturing industries makes more sense than reusing old batteries. . " Is it better and better to take cobalt metal from an old battery and turn it into a new one? " He said.

The scene of ore mining.

To be able to recycle old batteries enough to meet the needs of the growing electric vehicle industry, the industry needs to solve a lot of brain aches. First, current batteries are not designed to be easily removable. Batteries are not manufactured by the same process, making it difficult to use automated chains to separate.

Much of the work needs to be done manually by skilled people who can remove them without hurting themselves. Batteries can explode, and when they do, the battery emits a fair amount of toxic gas. Moreover, the glue and sealant used in batteries are usually very strong, making it more difficult to disassemble.

Designed for recycling

Automated detachment lines, as the text explains, can solve mankind's dangers and create a process fast enough to handle tons of accumulated batteries in the future. However, automated machines will need a standard battery to work at full capacity. Design changes could become pivotal for manufacturers looking for inexpensive materials. It is easy to disassemble, resulting in a purer, more valuable waste material extraction, after which the materials themselves can be sold or used to produce new batteries.

Automated lines - the solution to the problem of waste batteries.

" The idea of ​​'Design for recycling' should exist in the minds of manufacturers, " Gaines said, " that mindset needs to penetrate the product management boards ."

Both authors plan to begin testing the measures they have stated, but the completion of a line of machines dedicated to battery separation is still very far in the future, with no set time limit. Specifically.