标题: Mitigating overestimation in lithium-ion battery recycling LCA: The critical role of ex-post data and operational parameters
作者: Wang, SY (Wang, Shiyu); Zhou, FY (Zhou, Fengyin); Zhao, JJ (Zhao, Jingjing); Wang, HY (Wang, Hongya); Qu, X (Qu, Xin); Cai, MY (Cai, Muya); Wang, HC (Wang, Haochen); Wang, X (Wang, Xu); Wang, DH (Wang, Dihua); Yin, HY (Yin, Huayi)
来源出版物: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 卷: 521 文献号: 166261 DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.166261 Early Access Date: OCT 2025 Published Date: 2025 OCT 1
摘要: With the exponential growth in global battery demand, battery recycling has emerged as a pivotal solution to mitigate resource depletion and environmental pollution. However, life cycle assessments (LCAs) of emerging recycling technologies rely heavily on ex-ante laboratory-scale data, introducing substantial uncertainties that may lead to misjudgments of their sustainability. This study presents a systematic comparison of process design (ex-ante/ex-post), simulation design (ex-ante/ex-post), and commercial scale (ex-post) approaches for hydro-metallurgical lithium-ion battery recycling LCA. The results demonstrate that ex-ante data significantly overestimate environmental impacts, with deviations exceeding 36 % in carbon footprint for baseline process design (ex-ante) and simulation design (ex-ante) approaches, while ex-post corrections reduce these deviations to levels comparable with commercial scale data. Contribution analysis identified minimizing organic solvent loss as the critical factor for improving assessment accuracy. Scenario analysis further revealed that unified scenarios (UNS) not only delivered superior environmental benefits but also exhibited lower deviations compared with current scenarios (CUS). Moreover, expanding geographical boundaries (e.g., adopting the national grid average) was demonstrated to reduce the variability of the deviations. Temporally, increasing renewable energy penetration was found to amplify deviations under UNS while reducing them under CUS. This study establishes optimal strategies for data scaling in battery recycling LCA and quantitatively evaluates sources of deviation in environmental impacts, thereby enhancing the credibility of sustainability assessments for emerging recycling technologies and facilitating their technological advance and implementation. Synopsis: Sustainability assessments of lithium-ion battery recycling processes relying on ex-ante data demonstrate substantial uncertainties. Modifying ex-ante data by ex-post data significantly reduces environmental impact assessment deviations and enhances evaluation credibility.
作者关键词: Spent Lithium-ion battery; Recycling; Ex-ante LCA; Ex-post LCA; Up-scaling
KeyWords Plus: LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT
地址: [Wang, Shiyu; Zhou, Fengyin; Zhao, Jingjing; Wang, Hongya; Qu, Xin; Cai, Muya; Wang, Haochen; Wang, Xu; Wang, Dihua; Yin, Huayi] Wuhan Univ, Sch Resource & Environm Sci, 299 Bayi Rd, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China.
[Wang, Dihua; Yin, Huayi] Hubei Int Sci & Technol Cooperat Base Sustainable, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China.
[Wang, Dihua; Yin, Huayi] Hubei Prov Key Lab Biomass Resource Chem & Environ, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China.
通讯作者地址: Wang, DH; Yin, HY (通讯作者)，Wuhan Univ, Sch Resource & Environm Sci, 299 Bayi Rd, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China.
电子邮件地址: [email protected]; [email protected]
影响因子：13.2
