Lithium Ion Battery (LiB) Recycling –
Current Practices and New Innovations
By: Azita Yazdani, P.E.
Exergy Systems, Inc.
April 19, 2024 — 1pm MT
Presented by: MMSA QP ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE
The MMSA QP Enhancement Committee offers a series of webinars about a wide range of topics designed for the professionals working for mining companies and those involved in the preparation of studies and disclosure documents. The Webinars are also of interest to the legal, financial, management and academic sectors of the industry. The Webinars qualify for Continuing Professional Development credits for MMSA QPs.
Title: “Can We Make U.S. Battery Supply Chain Sustainable?“
Description:
The demand for battery metals – in particular lithium – has been growing exponentially in recent years due to the high demand for electric vehicles as well as the general trends nationally and globally for electrification. Worldwide battery markets are expected to grow 5-10-fold over the next decade. While the demand for the battery metals is growing, larger number of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) are expected to reach end of line and require handling and proper recycling. Meanwhile, the estimate for percentage of batteries collected and recycled continues to be in dispute (from 1-5%).
Building a sustainable supply chain remains questionable in western countries, who have relied heavily in the past years on overseas suppliers, to produce battery grade minerals and to make batteries. Several new companies have been launched in the last few years to recycle LiBs. This presentation will review the current state of battery recycling practices and present the pros and cons of each. New innovations in battery recycling will also be presented.
The U.S. and its allies have established a vision for a secure battery materials and technology supply chain by 2030. Many of the practices today for collection and recycling of batteries remain questionable. Despite large scale investments in recent years, environmental and processing inefficiencies remain. This presents new opportunities for innovation in the sector.
Bio: Azita Yazdani, P.E.
Ms. Yazdani is the Founder and CEO of Exergy Systems, Inc. (Exergy), a hardware technology company, deploying advanced membrane and electro-separation technologies for recovery and purification of resources in industrial processing. She is also the founder of a new venture, Re-Volt Metals Corporation, that aims to bring to market sustainable and clean metals and minerals processing including for battery waste, mining, and minerals (from brines) industries, utilizing new and advanced separation technologies.
Ms. Yazdani is a seasoned clean technology executive with more than 30 years of experience in industrial processes and technologies. She is the recipient of Resources Award from the International Sustainability Summit and has served on Presidential National Advisory Council on Environmental Protection and Technology (NACEPT). She currently serves on the U.S. Department of Energy Critical Materials Institute (CMI) and its Industry Advisory Council. She has also acted as technical advisor to the U.S. EPA SBIR and EPA Sustainable Industry Project.
Exergy has launched proprietary and patented products for recovery and recycling of water and chemicals (like acids) in several industrial segments. The Company has been working on deploying its various technology innovations to help industrials achieve “net zero footprint” in their manufacturing operations.
Ms. Yazdani is a contributor of the “Industrial Pollution Prevention Handbook” by McGraw-Hill as well as published and presented numerous research and technical papers. She has received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, at Berkeley and is a graduate of the Entrepreneurial Management program from UCLA Anderson School of Business. She is also a registered chemical engineer in California.
Webinars are limited to 100 registrants. To register for this free Webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYodeCrrT0pGdTLnFIoNMDmQt-3atSXVV-A
The Webinar will be recorded and posted on YouTube. A summary and links to the video will be posted on the MMSA Web site after the event: https:\\www.mmsa.net.