•COVID-19 pandemic revealed vulnerabilities in electronics material supply chains.•Materials are under growing supply, demand, socio-political, and environmental risks.•Critical material production ...is geographically concentrated and difficult to scale up during pandemics.•Supply chain diversification and recycling are key to reducing long-term risks.•Potential solutions may lead to unanticipated social and environmental tradeoffs.
Electronic products are an essential part of modern society, but their importance has perhaps never been as palpable as when the COVID-19 pandemic forced almost every aspect of human interaction to go online. However, the pandemic also revealed that the supply chains that provide crucial raw materials for manufacturing electronics are increasingly vulnerable to social, geopolitical, and technical disruptions. These vulnerabilities are likely to escalate in the future, due to global health crises, natural disasters, and global political instability, all of which will be magnified by looming climate change impacts. This study investigates potential supply chain disruption risks in the electronics sector by applying metrics that capture supply, demand, socio-political, and environmental risks in a multi-criteria framework to almost 40 metals and minerals that provide critical functionality to electronic products. Results illustrate that the material risks varied with the potential nature of the disruption. For example, in scenarios where disruptions led to price volatility or weakening of environmental regulations, highest risks were observed for precious metals such as gold, rhodium, platinum, and palladium. On the other hand, in scenarios where disruptions led to supply pressures or geopolitical tensions, cobalt, gallium, and key rare earth elements exhibited the highest risks. These metals are characterized by energy-intense manufacturing and highly concentrated geographic production, suggesting that recycling and supply chain diversification may alleviate some of the identified risks. The analysis also considers trade-offs that may occur across social, economic, and environmental dimensions. For example, cobalt, a critical component in lithium-ion batteries, has significant social impacts due to production concentration in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Shifting production to other regions may alleviate these risks but introduce new concerns about economic and environmental impacts.
•Proposed mechanical process can effectively enrich LIB materials into size fractions.•Resulting fractions could help recyclers choose more optimal recycling technologies.•Results show that ...pre-sorting LIBs by cathode chemistry could improve recovery.•Labeling may also greatly improve the recycling and recovery process for LIBs.
Development of lithium-ion battery recycling systems is a current focus of much research; however, significant research remains to optimize the process. One key area not studied is the utilization of mechanical pre-recycling steps to improve overall yield. This work proposes a pre-recycling process, including mechanical shredding and size-based sorting steps, with the goal of potential future scale-up to the industrial level. This pre-recycling process aims to achieve material segregation with a focus on the metallic portion and provide clear targets for subsequent recycling processes. The results show that contained metallic materials can be segregated into different size fractions at different levels. For example, for lithium cobalt oxide batteries, cobalt content has been improved from 35% by weight in the metallic portion before this pre-recycling process to 82% in the ultrafine (<0.5mm) fraction and to 68% in the fine (0.5–1mm) fraction, and been excluded in the larger pieces (>6mm). However, size fractions across multiple battery chemistries showed significant variability in material concentration. This finding indicates that sorting by cathode before pre-treatment could reduce the uncertainty of input materials and therefore improve the purity of output streams. Thus, battery labeling systems may be an important step towards implementation of any pre-recycling process.
Summary
A circular economy (CE)‐inspired waste management hierarchy was proposed for end‐of‐life (EOL) lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) from electric vehicles (EVs). Life cycle eco‐efficiency metrics ...were then applied to evaluate potential environmental and economic trade‐offs that may result from managing 1,000 end‐of‐life EV battery packs in the United States according to this CE hierarchy. Results indicate that if technology and markets support reuse of LIBs in used EVs, the net benefit would be 200,000 megajoules of recouped cumulative energy demand, which is equivalent to avoiding the production of 11 new EV battery packs (18 kilowatt‐hours each). However, these benefits are magnified almost tenfold when retired EV LIBs are cascaded in a second use for stationary energy storage, thereby replacing the need to produce and use less‐efficient lead‐acid batteries. Reuse and cascaded use can also provide EV owners and the utility sector with cost savings, although the magnitude of future economic benefits is uncertain, given that future prices of battery systems are still unknown. In spite of these benefits, waste policies do not currently emphasize CE strategies like reuse and cascaded use for batteries. Though loop‐closing LIB recycling provides valuable metal recovery, it can prove nonprofitable if high recycling costs persist. Although much attention has been placed on landfill disposal bans for batteries, results actually indicate that direct and cascaded reuse, followed by recycling, can together reduce eco‐toxicity burdens to a much greater degree than landfill bans alone. Findings underscore the importance of life cycle and eco‐efficiency analysis to understand at what point in a CE hierarchy the greatest environmental benefits are accrued and identify policies and mechanisms to increase feasibility of the proposed system.
Rapid evolution in the consumer electronics sector has created new resource and waste challenges that are inadequately managed in the current linear product system. Circular economy (CE) strategies ...offer potential to close the loop on electronic products and materials, but often lack the future-oriented perspective needed to keep pace with this dynamic sector. The present study addresses this challenge by developing a logistic forecasting material flow model that can predict future resource and waste flows for products with abundant historic sales data (mature products) as well as for products that have just entered the market (emerging products). One of the key trends observed across current and legacy electronics is the steadily shrinking innovation cycle, where the time between a product’s market entry and peak sales is decreasing over time. This trend, coupled with extensive historic and modern product sales data, was used to create adoption scenario forecasts for emerging products, like fitness trackers, smart thermostats, and drones. Findings show that these devices are likely to have rapid uptake in the market, but may be quickly replaced by subsequent product innovations. In contrast, waste flow forecasts for mature products like CRTs, desktops, monitors and flat panel TVs showed their declining contribution to the U.S. e-waste stream. This study contributes a modeling framework that can be used to inform CE strategies in electronics by identifying near term opportunities and risks in end-of-life management of products to extend product life and close the loop on key materials.
•We model future lithium-ion battery waste flows from projected electric vehicle use.•Projected EV sales and battery technology have highest impact on waste volume.•Modeled battery lifespan ...introduces variability to battery reuse potential.•Only 42% of the total waste by mass can be recycled with current technology.•Proactive waste management must be developed for battery wastes.
As a proactive step towards understanding future waste management challenges, this paper presents a future oriented material flow analysis (MFA) used to estimate the volume of lithium-ion battery (LIB) wastes to be potentially generated in the United States due to electric vehicle (EV) deployment in the near and long term future. Because future adoption of LIB and EV technology is uncertain, a set of scenarios was developed to bound the parameters most influential to the MFA model and to forecast “low,” “baseline,” and “high” projections of future end-of-life battery outflows from years 2015 to 2040. These models were implemented using technology forecasts, technical literature, and bench-scale data characterizing battery material composition. Considering the range from the most conservative to most extreme estimates, a cumulative outflow between 0.33 million metric tons and 4 million metric tons of lithium-ion cells could be generated between 2015 and 2040. Of this waste stream, only 42% of the expected materials (by weight) is currently recycled in the U.S., including metals such as aluminum, cobalt, copper, nickel, and steel. Another 10% of the projected EV battery waste stream (by weight) includes two high value materials that are currently not recycled at a significant rate: lithium and manganese. The remaining fraction of this waste stream will include materials with low recycling potential, for which safe disposal routes must be identified. Results also indicate that because of the potential “lifespan mismatch” between battery packs and the vehicles in which they are used, batteries with high reuse potential may also be entering the waste stream. As such, a robust end-of-life battery management system must include an increase in reuse avenues, expanded recycling capacity, and ultimate disposal routes that minimize risk to human and environmental health.
Technological innovation has transformed the role of electronics in education, work, and society. However, rapid adoption and obsolescence of consumer electronics has also led to new concerns about ...resource consumption and waste management. Past research to address these sustainability challenges has been constrained by data that do not reflect nascent trends in product evolution and consumer adoption, thereby limiting the ability to create and assess proactive solutions. This study presents a dynamic analysis of electronic waste (e‐waste) in the United States using material flow analysis and highly resolved electronic product sales and material composition data. Findings contradict expectations that e‐waste is growing with mobile device proliferation, instead showing that the total mass of the e‐waste stream is actually declining (10% decrease since the estimated peak in 2015) with phase‐out of large, legacy products like cathode ray tube TVs. The evolving material profile of consumer electronics being purchased and disposed sees reduced risks of e‐waste toxicity from hazards like lead and mercury, but greater risks from reliance on scarce metals and product designs that limit recycling. This study highlights concerns that extended producer responsibility regulations currently implemented in many U.S. states for e‐waste management may become less effective if they continue to rely only on mass‐based collection targets. This article met the requirements for a gold‐gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions to food systems, leading to both food shortages and food waste across the supply chain. These disruptions have, in turn, altered how people ...consume and then ultimately discard food. To better understand these impacts, their underlying drivers, and their sustainability implications, this study surveyed U.S. consumers about food purchasing, use, and waste behaviors during the pandemic. Survey respondents reported an increase in overall food purchases and a slight decrease in food waste generation due to the pandemic, but the linkages between these outcomes and underlying behaviors were complex. For instance, reduced household food waste was significantly correlated with an increase in behaviors such as meal planning, preserving foods, and using leftovers and shelf-stable items. On the other hand, behaviors aimed at self-sufficiency, including bulk purchasing and stockpiling, were significantly correlated with increased food purchase, which in turn led to increased waste. Results may offer insight for future resource and waste management strategies. For example, over 60% of respondents who started or increased efficient food use behaviors stated an intent to continue these activities after the pandemic. In contrast, less than 10% of respondents reported that they began or increased separating or composting food waste during the pandemic, and many stopped altogether due to suspension of local curbside composting services. Findings suggest that it may be easier to shift food consumption and use behaviors but more challenging to alter food waste separation behaviors, particularly those influenced by external factors, such as infrastructure that may be vulnerable to disruption. Identifying ways to facilitate ongoing behavior change and foster robust food waste management systems can contribute to resilience of food systems now and once the immediate threat of the pandemic has subsided.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to analyze the environmental trade-offs of cascading reuse of electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in stationary energy storage at automotive ...end-of-life.
Methods
Two systems were jointly analyzed to address the consideration of stakeholder groups corresponding to both first (EV) and second life (stationary energy storage) battery applications. The environmental feasibility criterion was defined by an equivalent-functionality lead-acid (PbA) battery. A critical methodological challenge addressed was the allocation of environmental impacts associated with producing LIBs across the EV and stationary use systems. The model also tested sensitivity to parameters such as the fraction of battery cells viable for reuse, service life of refurbished cells, and PbA battery efficiency.
Results and discussion
From the perspective of EV applications, cascading reuse of an LIB in stationary energy storage can reduce net cumulative energy demand and global warming potential by 15 % under conservative estimates and by as much as 70 % in ideal refurbishment and reuse conditions. When post-EV LIB cells were compared directly to a new PbA system for stationary energy storage, the reused cells generally had lower environmental impacts, except in scenarios where very few of the initial battery cells and modules could be reused and where reliability was low (e.g., life span of 1 year or less) in the secondary application.
Conclusions
These findings demonstrate that EV LIB reuse in stationary application has the potential for dual benefit—both from the perspective of offsetting initial manufacturing impacts by extending battery life span as well as avoiding production and use of a less-efficient PbA system. It is concluded that reuse decisions and diversion of EV LIBs toward suitable stationary applications can be based on life cycle centric studies. However, technical feasibility of these systems must still be evaluated, particularly with respect to the ability to rapidly analyze the reliability of EV LIB cells, modules, or packs for refurbishment and reuse in secondary applications.
•We develop an optimization model to analyze profitability of battery recycling.•The lithium-ion battery waste stream has a highly variable composition.•Technology shifts away from cobalt-based ...batteries reduces recycling profit.•Waste battery collection and recycling infrastructure needs further development.•Sorting process for collected batteries can improve subsequent recycling processes.
While lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology has improved substantially to achieve better performance in a wide variety of applications, this technological progress has led to a diverse mix of batteries in use that ultimately require waste management. Development of a robust end-of-life battery infrastructure requires a better understanding of how to maximize the economic opportunity of battery recycling while mitigating the uncertainties associated with a highly variable waste stream. This paper develops and applies an optimization model to analyze the profitability of recycling facilities given current estimates of LIB technologies, commodity market prices of materials expected to be recovered, and material composition for three common battery types (differentiated on the basis of cathode chemistry). Sensitivity analysis shows that the profitability is highly dependent on the expected mix of cathode chemistries in the waste stream and the resultant variability in material mass and value. The potential values of waste streams comprised of different cathode chemistry types show a variability ranging from $860 per ton11The word “ton” in this paper indicates metric ton (1000kg). for LiMn2O4 cathode batteries to $8900 per ton for LiCoO2 cathode batteries. In addition, these initial results and a policy case study can also help to promote end-of-life management and relative policymaking for spent LIBs.
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