Abstract
As Canada advances toward its emissions reductions targets, zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and lithium-ion battery recycling emerge as crucial components of a clean energy transition. This presentation overviews the numerical modelling of critical mineral demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. We outline how to evaluate recycling as an alternative to mining – focusing on the life-cycle environmental impacts of manufacturing EV batteries with recycled contents. Using British Columbia as a case study, we model the future availability of recyclable critical minerals based on legislated ZEV sales targets and estimate the environmental impact of recycling retired EV batteries.
We demonstrate how different battery chemistries – lithium-nickel-cobalt (NCX) vs. lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) – affect the composition of recyclable minerals and the associated impacts of recycling. Our findings show that manufacturing batteries from recycled content, particularly recycled NCX batteries via hydrometallurgical processes, reduces life-cycle carbon emissions, energy demand, and water usage compared to virgin materials. By quantifying the uncertainty of EV batteries and accompanying critical mineral feedstocks for recycling from the British Columbia market, this research provides a useful framework for assessing recycling feedstock from EV batteries across Canada.