Fraunhofer has developed a modeling tool that lets battery recyclers compare the cost and carbon emissions of different processing methods before changing a production line or scaling up a plant.

The tool follows materials through each stage of recycling, showing how a decision such as switching shredding methods can affect the quality of the recovered material and the work required to process it.

The model comes from a recent study by the EU’s Safeloop research project, which found that recycling lithium-ion batteries in Europe resulted in an average loss of about €1.90 per kilogram of battery pack under the conditions it examined.

Transporting hazardous goods, dismantling packs and uncertainty over how much material could be recovered were among the main factors weighing on the economics.

Fraunhofer’s Modular Lifecycle Tool draws on a database of individual processing steps and technologies.

Recycling companies, equipment providers and battery manufacturers can use it to assemble a processing chain based on the composition of the batteries they expect to handle and the amount of material they plan to process.

Shredding is one example of where a change can have consequences further down the line. Different methods can alter the quality of the material that reaches the next stage, changing how much work is needed to separate and recover it.

By tracking those flows, the model lets users compare the impact of a shredding method across the entire chain.

The tool links those material flows to estimates for energy use, carbon emissions, capital investment, and operating costs.

Source link