'Urgent' need to establish lithium-ion recycling facilities as toxic waste soars - ABC News

Oct 29, 2024

Australia's love affair with lithium-ion batteries continues to grow exponentially through e-bicycles, e-scooters and handheld electronics, but is it an environmental disaster in the making?

Just 10 per cent of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in Australia are collected and sent offshore for processing, with the rest either stockpiled or put in landfill where they can cause "significant environmental harm".

Edith Cowan University senior research engineer Dr Yasir Arafat and Professor Daryoush Habibi have been working to raise awareness about Australia's "alarmingly low" recycling rate for LIBs which, in landfill, can lead to the leakage of hazardous metals like cobalt, nickel and manganese.

"The release of [these] toxic substances … and lithium hexafluorophosphate (an electrolyte) into irrigation systems can harm aquatic life and pose serious health risks, including asthma, cancer, eye damage, reproductive toxicity, skin sensitisation, damage to bones and kidneys for nearby residents," Dr Arafat said.

He said stockpiles at waste management facilities also increased the much-reported risk of battery-related fires, with "approximately 10,000 incidents reported annually".

Australia currently produces about 3,300 tonnes of LIB waste a year, according to the CSIRO, with the federal government projecting Australia's annual wastage to soar to 137,000 tonnes by 2035.

Dr Arafat says East Asian countries like China, South Korea and Japan currently dominate the global recycling landscape for LIBs, accounting for 71 per cent of recycling plants.

China has a processing capacity of about 188,000 tonnes, Europe has a capacity of 92,000 tonnes and a recycling rate of 60 per cent, and North America has a recycling capacity of about 20,000 tonnes.

"In contrast, Australia is lagging behind in its recycling capabilities," Dr Arafat said.

"The country lacks a dedicated onshore recycling facility capable of recovering valuable critical minerals."

He said "urgent action" was needed.

"The Australian government should invest in developing robust recycling infrastructure, implement clear regulations for responsible handling, and provide incentives to promote the recycling industry," Dr Arafat said.

In May, the federal government released its $532 million National Battery Strategy to develop a domestic industry that capitalised on Australia's supply chain advantage as the producer of nine out of the ten minerals required to produce LIBs.

More than half a billion dollars of federal government funds have been set aside to encourage production of batteries in Australia, but exactly how the scheme will work has not yet been figured out.

The strategy is focused on producing new batteries, but it also reported that a domestic recycling industry for LIBs could be worth $603 million to $3.1 billion in just over a decade.

Despite this potential, the Waste Management & Resource Recovery Association of Australia said the strategy failed to fund a "collection pathway" for many existing battery types, "or move us to a circular economy by 2030".

"There needs to be urgent attention given to addressing the existing gaps in battery collection in Australia because the waste and resource recovery industry is literally on fire," WMRRAA chief executive Gayle Sloan said in May.

There has been some movement in Australia, such as in Victoria where the state government gave $3.5 million for two recycling projects that will be able to process 19,500 tonnes of LIBs a year.

A federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water spokesperson said state and territory governments were responsible for waste battery management, including the "collection, recycling, transportation and disposal of waste batteries".

The spokesperson said Australia's environment ministers met in 2023 and agreed that the Queensland government, supported by the NSW and Victorian governments, would "lead work to inform regulatory options for waste battery management".

It is due to provide recommendations in December.

Dr Arafat said the average life span of a battery in an EV was 8 to 15 years, but often retained 70 to 80 per cent of its original capacity, meaning it could be repurposed and used for an additional 5 to 10 years.

"The recycling rate for valuable minerals can reach up to 95 per cent, depending on the technologies and processes used," he said.

"Additionally, aluminium and copper can also be extracted during the recycling process, further enhancing resource capacity."

At the University of Adelaide, a $5 million Australian Research Council Training Centre for Battery Recycling is being established, which aims to provide "industry-centric solutions" for battery recycling, guide the rapid development of a recycling market in Australia, and deliver a highly skilled workforce.

"In Australia, we currently lack an industrial chain for, or unified policy to regulate, battery recycling," manager Dr Tatiana Khmeleva said.

"We demonstrate poor LIB collection rates, active landfilling and utilise [some] offshore recycling of our LIB waste.

"Alongside the mounting environmental risks of dumping in landfill, Australia is not currently able to realise the value associated with re-using large LIBs or recovering batter materials from them."

She said it was estimated that by 2030, batteries with a capacity close to 1,000 gigawatt hours would become available for a second life, including as backup power and stationary energy storage.

The centre is expected to be launched before the end of January 2025.