The Physical-Technical Institute offers consumers a Technology for recycling lithium-ion batteries using hydrometallurgical methods under a commercial agreement with technical assistance and/or a license agreement and is looking for partners to conclude a technical cooperation agreemen

Lithium-ion battery recycling technologies include pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and direct recycling, often with preliminary mechanical processing (discharge, disassembly, and crushing to "black mass"). These methods allow for the recovery of valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese for reuse.

Hydrometallurgy dominates (85% of the market), using acid or alkaline solutions to leach metals from the black mass without high temperatures, reducing energy consumption and emissions.

Pyrometallurgy.
In pyrometallurgy, batteries are heated to 1000–1500°C in an inert environment with the addition of coke. This allows for the efficient extraction of cobalt, nickel, and copper, but is less effective at recovering lithium and requires significant energy.
This method is simple and scalable, and is often combined with hydrometallurgy to improve metal purity.

Hydrometallurgy.
The process involves crushing, fractionation (metals, plastic, active mass), and chemical leaching to dissolve and purify lithium, cobalt, and other elements.

Direct recycling.
Direct (or "cathode-to-cathode") recycling recovers cathode material without decomposing it into elements, separating the components and relithiating them for rapid return to battery production.

This is a promising method with automated disassembly, minimizing losses and energy costs.

Market Share and Trends
Hydrometallurgy leads (85%), followed by mechanical disassembly (10%) and pyrometallurgy (5%); the market is expected to grow by 20.6% annually through 2025+.

Raw material sources: electronics, tools, electric vehicles; metal and plastic separation lines are being actively implemented in China and Russia.

The Institute of Physics and Technology has developed a basic technology for recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) using hydrometallurgical methods to extract reusable components from electrode materials. The key achievement of this technology is the minimal number of processing steps and low environmental impact, with the possibility of obtaining Ni and Co as metal powders.

Information on the lithium-ion battery recycling technology using hydrometallurgical methods, developed at the Institute of Physics and Technology, is published in the Catalogue "Advanced Developments of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus" 2024, pp. 86-87.

Currently, the Republic of Belarus lacks methods and technologies for recycling used lithium-ion batteries (due to a lack of equipment for their neutralization and a lack of technology for recycling electrode material).

The developed technology has no analogues in the world.

The use of lithium-ion battery recycling technology will reduce the environmental impact by recycling potentially hazardous lithium-ion batteries (Hazard Class II – can cause significant harm to the environment, human health, and animals) and extracting valuable materials (cobalt, nickel, lithium) from them, with the possibility of their reuse
in industry.

The Physical-Technical Institute completed a research project titled "Develop a Basic Technology for Recycling Lithium-ion Cells Using Hydrometallurgical Methods."

The results of this research were used in the development of this technology.

Developer: State Scientific Institution "Physical-Technical Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus".

Consumers interested in purchasing lithium-ion battery recycling technology using hydrometallurgical methods under a commercial proposal with technical support and/or a license agreement.

Partners interested in purchasing and developing lithium-ion battery recycling technology using hydrometallurgical methods under a technical cooperation agreement.