A recent report from Stanford University in the US, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that recycling lithium-ion batteries is far more environmentally friendly than mining for new materials.
Huh, who knew
You can get lithium from the pharmacy if you act crazy enough. Farm fresh lithium too, not some old phone battery lithium.
You don’t just suck on your old batteries?
Fucking spoiled rich kids and their pharmacy grade lithium…I prefer 9-Volt. It’s shockingly good.
This shows how one company (li-cycle) that claims they recycle 95% of the lithium does it: https://youtu.be/s2xrarUWVRQ
99.99% doesn’t seem too far-fetched.
Someone tell me why this isn’t feasible.
Because externalities of lithium extraction like using aquifers for evaporation ponds and the pollution from the leftover brine aren’t included in the cost of new lithium production, thus making less environmentally impactful methods of recovery too expensive to justify.
