# The world of battery recycling

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2024-04-04
- Length: 36m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling

## Summary

Dr. Dan Steingart, chair of the Earth and Environmental Engineering Department at Columbia University, explains the technical and economic realities of battery recycling, noting that current feedstock is dominated by gigafactory scrap rather than end-of-life batteries. He contrasts pyrometallurgy with hydrometallurgy, highlighting Redwood Materials' focus on securing feedstock, Ascend Elements' hydro-to-cathode process, and Li-Cycle's conservative approach to producing metal sulfates. Steingart argues that recycling is largely a low-margin tolling operation due to commodity price volatility, though he identifies direct recycling as a potential future pathway for LFP batteries.

## Chapters

- [0:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=1) Introduction: The Feedstock Gap and Zombie Lithium
- [3:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=202) Disassembly and the Challenge of Dead Lithium
- [6:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=415) Pyrometallurgy vs. Hydrometallurgy and Solvent Extraction
- [15:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=903) Redwood Materials, Ascend Elements, and Li-Cycle Strategies
- [23:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=1393) Unit Economics, Nickel Prices, and Tolling Operations
- [27:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=1669) LFP Recycling and the Case for Direct Recycling
- [30:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=1824) Anode Recycling: Graphite, Silicon, and Lithium
- [33:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling#t=2027) The Future of Battery Recycling as a Cost Center

## Topics

- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Redwood Materials (company)
- Ascend Elements (company)
- Li-Cycle (company)
- Northvolt (company)
- Tesla (company)
- GM (company)
- Ford (company)
- Stellantis (company)
- Rio Tinto (company)
- Vale (company)
- Energy Hub (company)
- Bloom Energy (company)

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## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-04-04-the-world-of-battery-recycling. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.