What *Really* happens to used Electric Car Batteries? - (you might be surprised)

How are Lithium Batteries Recycled? Today we find out. Whether its Electric Car batteries, cell phone batteries, or tool batteries the process is all the same. HUGE thanks to Li-Cycle for giving us a tour: www.li-cycle.com/ if you're looking to recycle your old cell phone or battery, you can find a drop off location here: www.call2recyc... and Call2Recycle will handle the rest. Lets get those old electronics and batteries turned into NEW technology!
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[@EngineeringExplained]

This was awesome, props for answering so many of the questions surrounding this in a facility that’s actually doing it!

[@JerryRigEverything]

It was way cool seeing it happen in real life!

[@Eduardo_Espinoza]

It also looks like they also have the answer to making batteries inert to handle :)

[@youxkio]

Hello Jerry@@JerryRigEverything I shared your video on LinkedIn. Do you have a commercial account there?

[@alexunruh]

This is pretty awesome, but is it economically feasible?

[@youxkio]

@johanneshartman4618 That explains the origins of recycling pretty much...

[@RyanMercer]

Very neat! More of these please.

[@stellviahohenheim]

ev propaganda

[@Fexiven]

No comments? Let me fix this

[@RyanMercer]

@@Fexiven 🤘

[@adriangpop]

Yes please, more!

[@X862go]

Agreed 👍

[@ElectroBOOM]

Nice to see the batteries are not wasted! I was hoping to see an explosion when they ground the car battery! I assume there is still a ton of energy left in there. What stops it from blowing up? The proprietary liquid is doing magic?!

[@JerryRigEverything]

From what I understood the sheer volume of liquid acts as a big heat sync. Absorbing all the thermals from getting ground up. Plus - I don't think it's ever shorting accross the full 400v? Each cell is probably just shorting with itself for a very short amount of time. From the battery dropping in and getting completely shredded is like 90 seconds.

[@andrive]

Electrobooom

[@JohnSmith-pn2vl]

there is no such thing as an electroboom from batteries@@andrive

[@lazer1036]

​@@JerryRigEverythingthat would make sense

[@MikAnimal]

I would assume the liquid nitrogen is stopping those electrons from doing their thing (extreme cold limiting the migrating of the electrons) … there is not a chance for the electrons to transfer before it’s all ground down to a homogeneous mix. Sort of like your car battery on a cold day but cold enough to turn your Tesla battery to the shocking power of a couple AA’s lol

[@BryanGreffin]

This process is interesting, but I'd really be interested in seeing what chemical separation processes they use to clean up and recycle the black mass, including effluent treatment and POG scrubbing tech, as well as the handling of waste such as filter cakes an the like. That's where the real magic happens.

[@qingxuanyue]

its leaching or smelting

[@wck]

Yep. It's pretty misleading to call the process in this video recycling. This is just the dismantling process.

[@corinnefogarty7880]

They probably have legal rights/patents to their process.

[@Npc-AA]

@@wck just a guess from me :First use common method of flotation method to segregate. during this step some chemicals will be used for certain element or element groups. it may take several times to fully separate them. next step would be hydro and last step always be pyro.

[@ElaJP3268]

I hope those workers are well paid. Considering the toxicity of the materials used. The mining process is extremely polluting. But, oh well seems to be the attitude of the 🙄 zero net carbon crowd.

[@tavo24vv27]

1:48 That Nokia battery is gonna jam that machine.

[@shawnh4528]

Ah, the Nokia jokes never gets old 😂

[@TheExtraterrestrial99]

Jam?? It gonna destroy that machine....

[@keeneddie1999]

@@shawnh4528 Yeah and those jokes last forever.

[@shawnh4528]

@@TheExtraterrestrial99 a minute of silence for all those things damaged by Nokia 😆

[@pgrossmsk]

ah nokia , im gonna charge my lumia 925 back on

[@wisdumb47]

Started my career in an imaging consumables recycling plant. The ink and toner cartridges from spent printers and copiers get ground up in a very similar process to separate the plastics and metal types. Dropping off the spent cartridges at Staples and other similar storefronts was their method to acquire material as well and they called it a 'take-back program.' They also use a filter press to remove the toner powder from the water, but they called the resulting black bricks filter cakes instead of black mass. These are difficult processes and require a ton of R&D and trial and error to get right. Huge props to the people that worked hard to make this facility happen.

[@boy638]

What do they do with the filter cakes after?

[@wisdumb47]

@@boy638 In order to do this kind of business you have to be R2 certified, which puts a lot of limitations on what they are allowed to do with the material. There is also commitments to customers (in this case companies like Xerox, Ricoh, Canon, Sharp, etc.) to not send any recovered material to a landfill. It was a pioneering industry while I was there, so a lot of the solutions for toner cake were innovative and some plain failures. Two notable experiments we did with toner cake: 1) create a wood alternative by injection molding the material into board shapes. This worked to an extent. I actually used some of the boards to build raised garden beds in my back yard. The issue was that the sun destroyed them. Non-virgin resins and the sun typically don't mix well for long. 2) add toner cake to the substrate used to asphalt roads. This has huge promise in hotter climates where the roads don't get cold enough for the material to become brittle. Roadways are the most recycled material on Earth by percentage, and the toner actually improved longevity but only in hot climates. Most often, however, there was not a viable way to get rid of the cakes. It is hard to sell garbage. This resulted in a lot of the cakes being consolidated into gaylords and send to W2E (waste to energy) facilities to be burned as fuel to create electricity.

[@JackieBright]

​@@boy638bake for 30 minutes at 360°, add frosting, enjoy

[@Kevin-rf9sx]

@@boy638 what do you think? its a cake.. they eat it... duuuh

[@dominiklukacs7677]

@@Kevin-rf9sx Why didn't I think of that

[@eriknielsen1231]

I just did a research essay last year on EV batteries, and Li-Cycle was a big company that came up. Awesome to see this video of their Arizona facility!

[@sethk.]

Very nice, must've been an interesting topic to research!

[@warrensteel9954]

And they started right here in Canada. We've been recycling batteries for over 30 years, but this process was by far a huge step in sustainability.

[@tekiwi]

A really excellent subject to research is the amount of electricity that is now being used to keep at this supposedly sustainable tech running. Highly recommend looking into it as your generation need to know what's a head of you!!

[@deere7227]

​@@warrensteel9954sounds like you are an employee. My son is an accountant at Li-cycle TO.

[@PJM454]

Nothing was recycled in this video!!! Mechanical separation based on simple density of materials (gold panning effect) but no pigs were smelted of any basic element let alone whether they could be reused. Dig deeper if you truly are doing research into this before you praise them.

[@hoo_maan8735]

Ive personally worked and helped set up a battery recycling facility, that blackmass is absolutely the WORST THING TO SPILL and your floors will never be the same

[@Michael0697]

I'm confused as to why the workers have to get up close and personal to clean the filters by slamming them together. I feel like there would be a better way, but at least they have PPE.

[@AhrkFinTey]

@@Michael0697 I just assumed they were doing it for the video

[@UndecidedMF]

Awesome video! I’ve been to the current Rochester facility (not the one under construction) and was blown away. Really awesome stuff.

[@UTKETCHUP]

Hey Undecided MF

[@jeremyfk]

Great to see more people like yourself Matt dispelling the FUD around lithium batteries.

[@drew_echo]

How does someone tour one of these facilities? Do you just call up "Hey, I'd like to tour and record your facility"? Does the facility reach out to you for publicity? Do they have regular tours that anyone can pay for?

[@jonathanwieringa8808]

@@jeremyfk The FUD master matt farrel or whatever himself. The guy with no real knowledge of batteries, only psudo science. take everything with grains of salt

[@ailivac]

I had no idea they were in Rochester... looks like they're using some of the old Kodak Park buildings.

[@leetween7232]

Love it! I repair laptops for a big company and we send out a LOT of batteries to be recycled. Interesting to see the process. I shared it with my office.

[@rogerstarkey5390]

Send the old PCBs as well!!

[@leetween7232]

@@rogerstarkey5390 yeah we have an electronics recycler we work with too!

[@Falconhunter276]

I reckon a follow up to show where the materials go and what they're used for. How they get further processed is going to be the game changer here.

[@thatguythatdoesstuff5899]

I second this. All the materials they got out of batteries in the video need further processing.

[@JackThelRipper]

That’s what I wanna see, my guess is they chemically break down the lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Then separate them individually thru some sort of filtering process or a reverse chemical induction process. Kinda like watching those guys liquify gold off circuit boards to a pure liquid state and then re-constitute them to a hard metal state. Nerd stuff all the way around that I wanna know about and pester my wife with lol!

[@unxusr]

@@thatguythatdoesstuff5899why don’t you do the video? Every material requires processing.

[@thatguythatdoesstuff5899]

@@unxusr Zack is more suited for making that video. It'd be nice if he had a full series on battery recycling showing the full process from old battery to new battery. This video shows just the first stage.

[@roberts.wilson1848]

@@thatguythatdoesstuff5899 This video shows just the first stage IF the battery is recycled...because most of the times batteries are being used in EV conversions and home power walls for offgrid energy independence by people wit solar arrays. This process will be of use in like 10-20 years from now when batteries from early tesla may be sent to this process, after many of the EV conversions themselves will see an end of life.

[@Krusty-kl5ej]

"Probably made into new batteries" - Something very ominous in that wording.... More ominous is the lack of apparent or visible fire suppressant systems in that recycling process. I'm sure they have them, but once a Lithium cation is liberated, it is vulnerable to ignition when exposed to oxygen. Once that starts in a mass volume of similar material, a chain reaction starts. I trust all of the commercial collections you see at such businesses such as Home Depot, Staples, etc. are ready for such incidents.

[@mikelmart]

Yeah those cardboard boxes are really fire proof.

[@Supernaut2000]

I am sure they are pretty smart and have encountered all possibilities. If you are still worried, why don't you phone or email them to ask?

[@lolmandood]

This honestly makes me feel better about our recycling process. Props to everyone that made this happen.

[@ytnsm]

Ok, but for new batteries, the enviromental and social impact of lithium extraction stills being huge

[@amoeb81]

It is worth talking about cobalt mining as well. Congo

[@djdusted6485]

This is just a fraction of the batteries we produce. Its not enough. Like our normal recycling, it's not enough and they monopolised it.

[@therealpeter2267]

​​@@djdusted6485Pretty sure the main problem is most people just throw these into common trash and that is not recycled or sorted, so people need to be given an incentive to put these in the correct place, and maybe even sort and recycle common trash

[@djdusted6485]

@therealpeter2267 a lot of recycling that has been put in the correct boxes and taken away by the correct truck will not get recycled. They ship it to a different country where it goes in to landfill. There is many documentaries about it.

[@9a3eedi]

Curious to know what the cost of those recycled materials are vs freshly mined equivalents

[@francus7227]

You will stay curious for a very long time...... If it was positive, it would have been the key feature. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez????

[@edman50]

It is very expensive still compared to mined Lithium. They are focusing on Battery logistics cutting down on shipping costs but the core technology unfortunately won't get much more profitable. Especially with chemestries such as LFP where iron and phosphate are impossible to hit profitability on.

[@shaunryan6]

How much of this black mass actually ends up being used? Without this information this video is pointless. What percentage of the black mass is useless and where does it end up. Deliberately omitting this essential information is very suspicious.

[@goldenhate6649]

So working in Environmental Regulation here. The main issue with these recycling centers is well, they are insanely toxic and a number operate illegally. If black mass gets into groundwater, its a disaster that costs millions to clean up. To answer where black mass ends up if not reused, it goes (well is supposed to go) to a permitted hazardous waste landfill. Unfortunately, the illegal takers of batteries its anyones guess where they put them.

[@francus7227]

@@goldenhate6649 And there you have it folks..... If Goldenhate is as correct as he sounds, he just took a gigantic dump on this butterflies and unicorns video. Oooops. So sorry Goldenhate for using "he" when it could be "she/we/us/they/them/etc". But thanks for honesty. Food often tastes good going in, but not always. It ALWAYS smells bad coming out. Facts of life. It's a series of trade-offs that have risks, benefits and consequences. Everything.... personal health, economies, environments, relationships.... everything.

[@paulohlstein2236]

It has to be a long way from the black mass to whatever goes into a battery. It would be more interesting to see the chemistry and mechanical processes required to accomplish that task.

[@mrwess1927]

Next week on, utv

[@stevenhawker4984]

Exactly. This program failed to provide any details except for crush it up,separate and shove it in a bag.

[@himdabo]

This is where they keep the secret of vast amounts of sulfuric acid needed to separate the metals from the “black mass” material. Currently, sulfur is harvested cheaply as a byproduct of the crude oil refining process. But as oil production is set to decrease in the future, the availability of sulfur declines sharply, sending the costs of batteries skyrocketing.

[@0PsychosisMedia0]

​@himdabo oil production will never go away. Slightly decrease, probably. Remember all those plastics we use and not to mention gas/diesel vehicles are still the go to for mining thoes precious metals the batteries needs. You can't recycle 100% of a battery.

[@warrensteel9954]

@@stevenhawker4984 that facility is currently under construction. Until then it's just sold to battery manufacturers.

[@fitzfitzgerald1110]

Thank you Jerry. I learned a lot about this and I'm relieved that this facility is doing what they do, so well!

[@TimTacTV]

I loved how at 2:25 Zack said: "It's getting kinda loud but you can see them f̵l̵o̶w̸i̵n̶g̵ ̷t̶h̶r̷o̸u̷g̸h̶ ḧ̵̢e̶͔̒r̴̪̈́e̵̡͂, d̶̳͑o̶͍̔w̶̺͗ń̷̝ t̵̫̉̽ǒ̷̝̎ ̴̢͇̈͆ä̵͜ ̶̓͜͜s̶͔̖͘t̷̮̝̿̆r̶̗̀e̵̳̞̎a̷̝̹̾͝m̷͚̄, w̷̧̮̣̘̙̍̃̽̈́̔̈̅̄ͅh̵̜͐̓̐̓͌e̶̲̻͊͛̋r̶̲̘̪̬͂e̸̪̓̓̽͊̏̇̒͑ ̴̘̈t̷̨̩̳͍̯̙͊̈͆͝h̸̪̚̚e̸̥̹͚̋̓̐̏̄̚̚͜͠ ̶̳͍̭͍͎̪̋̅́͒p̷̢̙̳̠̈́͜l̷̡̲̭̒̆̾̂̈́ḁ̸͈̬̋́̈́s̴̜̱͔͉̣͇͍̯̐̒̀́͘͝ẗ̴̢̤͎̬̣̯̲́̿͒̿̆̀̒ͅį̵͙͖̈́͆̾̆̀c̶̡̠̝̯̅̓̑́̈́ș̶̰̓̀̒͂͠ ĝ̸̹̭̀̂̄̈̑̂̏͗̅́̃̄̈́ȅ̵̯̪̜̮̤̣̪͍͊́̑͛̿̓̈̌͘͝t̸͇́͑͐̀͐̓̆̅̎̑̓̄̕͝ ̷̩̻̬̠̦͓̫̃̓̉͑̐̏͌̓͒̌͆̍͐̈́̀͛̚ͅv̵̛͍̭̤͙̳̎́͊͘͝í̴̢̠̗̜̟̹͇̰͉͙̬͙̇̈́͗̓̋͊̽́̄́̏̏̓̏̃̆b̷̡̨̺̹̬̀̾̀̒̕͠r̵̖̤̜͍̩̠̘̣̅̑̀͛͐̾̈́̔̔͘ą̶̨̟̩͇̰̲̙̗̪̩̖̜̞͂t̴͇̥͚̩̱̱͔̠̗̱̼̜͗́̑̍̆̈́͒͗̍͋͐̇̇̀͜͝ẽ̴̡̧̨̞͍̜͕̱̰͎̞̬̝̱̐̔d̸̢̦̻̦̱̥̞̘͕͔̳͋͒͗̉̀͂̏̋̒͌̍̚͝͠ ̷̧̡͈̭̠̣̐͝ů̶̡̡̞̙̭̮̟͇̭̖̙͙̩̗͙̖̰͠ṕ̶̫̹͈̹͚̗͙̯̥͖͉̂̎̌̎̾̅̈́̑̒̒͒́͜ͅͅ"

[@franklofarojr.2969]

Wow how'd you do that?!

[@YourMotherSucksCocksInHell]

@@franklofarojr.2969 Z̴̛̛̛̛̛̩͚̻̮̱̤̩̞͒̔̐̽̐̆̌͌̍̑̈́͊̀͊͐̿̆̔̈́̈́̑̈̽̍̌̈́́͒͂͂͛̔̉̓̾̾̓̆̂́̎̔̉̉̀̍́̆̎̄͑͛͊̆̈́̎̈́̄͛̽̌͂̒̈̅́̿̅͑̓̑́̈́͂͋̿͊̒̂̓̈̓͊͑̇̈́̍͊̒͆͛́̎̒̈͋͂̍̎̑̓͊̑̋̌͂̀̐̇̃́͑̀͌̏̌͐̀͗̈́̏̑̈́̎͌̈́̄́̍̊͊͂̂̈́̊̋̌́͂̀̈͋̾̊̕̚͘̚̚̕̕̚̚͘̚͝͝͝͝͠͠͠͠͝͝͝a̷̡̧̧̡̨̢̧̧̨̡̢̡̢̙͍͓͍͇̟̬̺̰͙͎̦̩͎͓̹͓̭̘̩͓̝̙̜̬̟̠̹͍̫͔̱̲̣͚̺͙̩̘͇̘̬̮̟̭̮͇̯͚͎͖̞̥̖̲͓̗̻̼̮̗̹̤̝͍̟̠͉̙̯͎͇̙̲͎͓̲͖͍̜̤̻̠͚̦̟̫̦̹̙͎̣̯̤͉͓͙̬̞̣̝̘̯̻̤͕̺̱͔̳͐́͛͊͜͜͜ͅͅͅͅͅl̸̢̧̧̢̨̧̨̢̧̡̨̡̡̡̡̧̨̛̛̛̛̛̰̘̳̖̱͎̞͉̟̼̻̱̖̖͇̳̮̜̪̪͎̱̪͓̹͚̩͚̺̳̱͔̮̝̘͍̮͕̟̝̝͇̯͕̙̙̪͎͈̩̪͎͍͚͕̬͔̤̝̭̗͓̖̠̞̖͓̮͍̭͚̟̠̹̝̬͈̬͕̼͉̮̞̜̜͙͇̗̯̼̤̪̲͔̬͔͓͈͍̻͍̟̘͎̼̗̺̪̪͎̳̪̞̞̩̫̪̘͇̞͙͎̥̳̩̙̹̗͖̰̣̮͇̟̝̼̩͕͉̠̥̦̻̠̱̰̺̲͍͎̻͚̖̱̭̯̳͍͙̖̮͉͖̱̬̫͍̖̣͇̟̖͕̻̝̺͉̑̅͊̈́̀̔͐̈́̃͂̒̍̊̋̍̔̍̿̄̈́͌̆͋̂̈́̇̑̊̄̾̉̏̅̎͂͂͂̈̂́͐̾̌̂̉̈́̍̇̎̄̿̑̈̑̈́́́̓̊̄̔̀͌͐̒̓͆͂̔̆͐́̂̍̂͌̔̒̒͆̈́̀̇͊̓̀͑͆̒̈́͂͑̀̅͊̉̊̔̍͌̽͊̅́͂̉̏̀̏̉͊̆̅̐̇̒̿̐̍̄̓̍̐̂̃̂͛͛̊̀̎̅͌̊̔̒͒͊̏̌͑̈́͑́̔̆͐̇̆̈́͂̋̅́̀̾̿͆̍͂̑̐̿̅̿̋̇͌͆͊̈́̏̋̓̄̓̌̀͊́̃͊͋̉̋̈͐͋̽̓́̅̓̃̆̌̀̆̀̀̉̓͌̅̿̃͗̔̑̍̇̈̎̆̇̽͒̎̾̆͛̋͑͆̈́̔̽͐̀̓̓̒͂͆̇̈́̂͗̚͘̚͘̕͘̚̕̕̚͘͘̕͘̕͘̚̚̕͘͘̕̚͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͠͠͝͠͠ͅͅͅͅͅğ̵̡̢̡̨̧̡̨̧̢̧̧̢̨̧̢̢̨̡̛͍̱̳͕̰͉̜͎̲̫͓͈̬͔͖͉͇̪͍̮̭̙͙͉̲̟͍͈̬̺͈͕͍͇̟̳̣̞̠̜͈̩͍̬̙̳̩͙͔̳̪͇͎̫̘̱͇̯̩̖̻͙̗̞̻̠͚̳̮̙͎̞͉̹̥̻͕̫̮̰̖̝̤͔͈̱̰̜̜̻̠͈̩͎̲̰̻̦̞̣̙͖͙̖̮̰͈̲̜̺̘̞̺̜̱̥̦̥̲͎̱͉̖̟̺̻͓͙̪͔̩̣̘̮͈̙̹̗̜̪͈̦͓̦͕̱͍̤̝͔̠͔̜́̈̆͗͒̇̏̒̆̉̊͋̅͊̄͒̈̈́̈́̇͆̋̑̾̋͂̑͑̈́̏̎̃̀̆̂̊̋̍̇̔̒̽̏́́̆̉͌̈́̉̉̃͂̉̉̈́̇̌̇͐̓̓̈́̿̀̅̈́̃̐͛͗̋̅̄́̅͒̈͐̎̀̓͘̕̚̚͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͠͠͠͝ͅͅͅơ̸̡̨̧̡̛̛̛̙̱̯̼̝͙̣̠̹̬͓̗͙̺̩̲͔̞̥͔͍̫̗̼̦͈̠͕͒̏̇͛̉̓̈́͋̉̊̒̍̃̎͂̿̉̈̂̄̀̔̿͑͒̿̄̋́͊̍͊͌͗͛̈͋̑͋̌͒͌͌͑́̀̉̆͛͛͗̾̍͑̌͊̑̉͗̿̽̏̓́̀̇̇͋̾͗̀̏̈́̄̓̓͋̇͂̋͛̈̒̾̉̉͑̉̂͑̓̂͂̑̊͐́̌̿̃̀̍̈́͂̂̑́̃̍̋͋͐͌̂͐̍̈́̃̋̑͂̏̀̂͋̊̾̀͗͐͐̌͌̎͛̃͑̅͗̔́̌̇̑̎͐̀͊́́͒̉̆̿̍̀̈͊̈̊̆̿̊̕̚̕̕̚̚̕̕̕̕̚̕͘͜͠͝͠͠͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͠͠ͅͅ ̷̢̡̧̨̨̧̢̢̛̛̛̛̛̛̮̣̥͚̦̻̖̣̲͈̜̜̼̪̥̖̗̣̗̤̺̙̣͓͓̬̰̫͎̭̤̬͖͈̲̤̮̺̱̠͙͓̖͕̤͖̣̗̯͚̭̬̪̮̠̤̟̤̳͎̮̝̣̝̜̀͋͑̒̊̂̓̊͒̎̉͂̎͆̎͗̽̓̈́̄̈́̏̍̿̓͆̔̍̾͌̏̆̏̋͒͒̄̅̆̀͗̓̽̂̎̏̑͌́̂́̾͆͗̀̈́̔̈́̾̈́͌̓̽̀̈́͐̒̌͋̈́̄̀͋͛͐̾̐̅͆͐̉̐̆̀̌͐͂̇̏̀͛͌͐͛̄͋͗̊̃̄͐̓̀̐̾͋̀̆͌̽̈̂̆̌̀́̆̍̈́̇͛̃̾̿͌́͂̈̒̈́̄̐̒̽̈́̓̈́͋͒̈̾͆̆͆̈́̃̽̅͂̄̄̇̊́͂̓͒̀͐͑͆̂̊̀̌̄̆̔̊͒̔̒̍̽͐͗́̉͌̽́̄̀̑̄͂̉̑͊̽͐́̇̄̅̓̀̿̔̇̂̈́̀̒̇̾͋̀́̓̾̕̚̕̕̚̕̕̕̚̚͘͘̚͘̚̚͘͘̚͜͜͜͠͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͠͠͝͠͝͠͝͝͠͠͝͠͝͠͝͠͠ͅw̶̢̛̛̛̛̛̤̩̫̠̥̱̼͓͍̭̣̦̩̜̝̩͖̜͖̺͖̬̜̳̘̪̫̙̝͉̤͙̥̞͙̃̌̈́̆̀͋̂͛̉̀̓̀̉̆̆͋̓̅͐̇͊̉̾̑̅̾̀̽̓͋̇̈́͑̍̽̀̀̏́̃̐̓̇̏̽͑̈́̈͒̎̑̿̏̏͂̍̾́͑̊̓̂̀̽͊̀͒͗̌̀͂͛̓̑̑̿̑̀̊̈̆́̌̓̇̿͊̑̓̉̓̌̿̅̃̐͐̓̆͊͑͋̑͊̐̓̄̍̏̍̈̈́͌̈̿̅̔͂́̈́̈́͊̈́̎̒̔̏̓͑̋͂̇̆̊̇̆̈́̍͛͑̉̎͌̄̐͌͊̆͐̍̽̌̑̎͑͒͂̿̆̑͛̍͐́̌̉͌̀̉̊̒͊̆̍͛̎͗̀͆́͐͗̓͋̽̈̾͒͑͗̃̎̃̌̅̔͛̿͌͌̔͑̐̄̊̒̄̕̕̚͘̚̕͘̚̕͘̕̚̚͠͠͠͠͠͝͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͠͠͝͝ͅą̷̧̧̡̢̧̢̢̧̡̡̢̛̛̛̛̛̛̛͉̟̪͉̜͎̲̱̞̰͕̟͓͙̞̗̞͓̻̦̭̳̖̯͇̻͈͙͉̻̖͎̱̼͓̩̯̩̗͍̰̮̥̰̯̭͍͓̫̮͉͕̥͎͖̱̹̣͇̼͓͕̩̤̞̻̰̥̦̰̱͍̱̼͎͓̤̮͈̝̼̰͇͇̜̬̜̳̦͇̪̮̻͍̼͇͎̬͎̗̻̭̹̟͚̙̬̼̳̳͙̲̭̪͖̞̥̹̼̰̞̘̹̗̟̣͖͍͚͈͉̖̹̯̘̱͙̘̻̦̣̪̪͕̠̝̦͇̗̣̩͔̩̥̟̲͎͓̥͙̫̙̒̀̉̃̆̾̆͛̾͛̆̌̏̃̑̂̀̆̒̎̃̄̈́̐̂͂̇̈́̉̒̑͒̄͒̀̐́̓́͒̊̊̽͆̔̒̓͐̌̃̎̈̉̓̔̿̒͋̾̀̎̅̅͗̈́̓̒́̀̒̐̐̾͊̓̃̉͊͊̔̏̒͐̅̿̿͋̓̈́́̌͂̎̒͊͊̏̓̃̈̽̾͊͒͗͋̅͊̋̈́̃̒̔͊̑͂̈́͊̃̈̋̉͗̑̍̃͒̓̓̅̀̌̋̽̒̍̽̑͂̿̈́̐̉̍͋͛̌͒͒̏̅̔͛͊̆͗̓͛͗̌͑͛̂̄̓̔͗̉̾́̓͋͌̂͆͌̿̈́̐͊̂̈͊́͊́̿̒̍̔̔̓͒̑̅̔̂͗̃͛̑͊͂̅̎͒̂̓̓͛̐͛̈́̐̃̊̒͗̚͘̚̕̕̚̚͜͜͜͜͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͠͝͠͝ͅͅͅͅs̸̨̢̡̢̢̡̨̨̧̧̨̧̡̢̢̨̧̧̢̢̧̢̢̧̢̢̧̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛̛͎̗̖̹̤͖̬͈̣͔̖̦̜̮̟̼̮͖͕̦͕̞̤̜͖̣͇͙̙̯̘̺̗̜͎͓̘͙̜̻̟̗̹̦̲̬̯͍͓̱̫͓̖͕̳͚̹͔͕̹̦̤̙͚̩̠̥̣̭̝̠̟̰̤̥̲̣͔̮̣̯̩͖̯͓̫̙͈͇̭̗̣̪͎̙̦͇̗̰̥̯̻̗̳̟̲͚̟̭͉̩̦̹͕͍̪̘̩̼̘͉̖͙̝̼̗̝͇̖͙̫͍̮̣̟͉̞̠̘͎̣̭̳̗̭͙̝̭͈͈͎̪̱̜̻̮̟̱̭̝̝͔͕̤͇̩̭͉̬͍̠̭̤͉̺̯̩̖̯̹͚̹̞̘̞̺̦̹͙̘͎͇̣͈̲̟̹̺͔͙̰̤̜̭̰̟̹̯̯̼̰̭̠̟̠̆͊͑͒̈́͊̔̍͒̒̊̃̂͐̏̉̂̃̆̆̒̈́̏́̒́̽̏̎̍̌̃̊̄͌̿̊̍̋́͊̉̌͂͆̇̂̆̾̃̓̈́̈́́̽̿̉̐̔̐̈̒̀̽̾̿̇͑̉̈́̍̂͑̅̄͐̇̾̂̀̐̈́̍́͑̐́̄̊̾̇̈́͌̉͛͑͊͐̍́̿̇͂̈́͛̑̊̒́̐̔̍̆̆̑͊̑͋̂͂̓͊̋̔̀̿̾͆̂̾͂̏͒͂̓͊͑̂̉̽͒̍̋̒̏͗͆̌̓͋̅̾̄͌͊̀͗̎̏͊͛̈̓͋̄͊̂̆̽̚͘͘̚̚̕̕͘͘̕͘̕͘͘̚͘͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͠͠͝͠͝͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅ ̷̧̧̢̧̢̢̢̨̨̛̛̛̛̛̺̜̖̹͔̮͓̝͖̝̳͈̼͈̺̬̼̞̻̯̙͖̬̗̰͚̼̜͍̤̪̭̙̜̙̖̠̖̩̰̭̭̟̣̟͕͍̲͔͚͙̤̗̜͇͕͚̝̪̭̹̥͔̜̗̺͚͍͙̘͕̹̮̖̭̫͎̘̺̝̤̱̗̦̗̮̭̗͈̲̯̯͙̰̟̩̳̱̜͎͎͕̣̰̬̳̞̯̝̫̖̬͕̪̜̘̗͕̱͇̥͉͈͉͛̏́̔̽̈̈́̓͑̊̿̾͗̉̿̏̈́͛̽͂͊̔̃̍̒̆̎̾̈̓͒͋͂̐́̾̆̓̓͑͒̆̀̀̉̆̾̾̓̀̑͑͒̉̎̇́̊̈́̃́̽̀͌̏̄͑̊̏̈́͋̉̑̓̈́̀̓͆͑͂͑͌͐͊̒͐̈́̾̇̾̆͌͆̔̑̽̓̌́̍̔̓̎̆̾̏̉͆͛̓̅͂̈́̿̌̿̅̄͑̅̏͊̏̅̎͒̃̄͋̍̑̈̄̈́͘̚̕̚͘̕̚͜͜͝͠͝͝͝͠͠͠͠͝͝ͅͅͅͅh̵̨̧̧̨̡̢̧̧̧̢̧̧̨̧̢̡̢̢̨̡̨̛̛̯̯̙̬͓̼͚̳̥͎̺͙͚̪̙̲͈̫͈̙̺͙͙̙̟͓̱͓͙̟͙͉̪̫͖̭̰̺̗̥̪̭̦͇̝͈̗̠͖͖̳̯̪̦̲̙̘̳̖͎̲̰͖͍͓͔̯͇̝͓̟̟͇̼̯̩̖̜͕̭̪̲̹̭̲̙͕̰̖͉̳̱̟͇͔̯͈̲̝̬̝̠͙̗̼͔̜͖̤̦̗͎̪̗̘̫̠̥̦̝̱͚͇̹̰̼̯̟̞̠̝̣͈̖͍̱̤̻̝̭̯̜̬͍̖̟̜̗͎͖̟̖̫̮̱̻̣͇͓̥̩̙̘̙͇̮͍̟͎̦̱̬͖̮̗̟̣̲̺̪̫̜̝̲̖̖͍̮͚̩̦̫̀͒̽͒͊̓̂͌̀̿͒̄̓̏̅́̍͌̏̊̒̍̾̏͌͊̉͌̔̌̔͌̊̑̉̀̽̀͐͗͐̿͛̓̐́̉̓͌̃̇͌̌͛̂̃̅̾̓̏̈̀̍̿̀̑̀̾̂̓̍̅̓͐̒̃̋̿̌̂̊̀̎̈͐̍̑͑͑̽́̾̃͌̈́͛̑͊͐͐̀̒͊̄̎́̽͒̒͑̽̽̊͑̈̕̕͘͘͘̚̕̚̚͘̚̕͘̚͜͜͜͜͜͝͠͝͠͠͠ͅͅͅͅͅe̷̢̧̨̧̨̧̧̧̧̧̡̢̧̨̢̠̱̝̬̤͎͇̝̟͕̜̩̜͉͖̼̙͕͇͓̲̠̟̯͉͍̗̯̯̞̝͍̜̦̮͔̬̗̜͇̹̤̰̣͕͈͉̟͖̤̱̮̗̪̙̥̙̩̝̖̰͖̩͉̜̤̲̖̩͚̺̪̻̤͖̤̠̼͉̟̩̬̗̩̞̼͔͈͈͕͍̦̥̹̤̻̜̹͇̰̬̺̲̲̥͈͙̙͎̼͓͍̠̖͖̲̳̳̥͇̮̥̞͎͔̗̜͚̫͉̺͓̖̮̮̼̜͇͙̺͔͉̺̖̙̫͖̥͕̳͇̘̣͖̳̥̟͈̳͖̩̝͙̬͙̱̩̦͉͕͔̞̟̟͕̻͔̼̥̝̽͑̅͑́́̔̽̏̔̿̓͂̿̃̈̉͌̐̏̀̍͑̓͑̿̒͌̈̿̾̓̈́̔̏̃̌͑͛͋̓̆͐̀̈́̆̈́̃̉̉͘̚̚̚͜͜͜͜͜͝ͅr̶̢̡̢̨̧̢̢̢̧̨̧̢̧̧̧̡̡̛͙͕̠̝͖̼̫̼͔͍̲̳̪͚͍̺͎̯̣̟̻̮͕͕̼̘͓̻̭͓̻͕̙̬͕̻̠͓̣̥̱̩̩̮̯̳̹͙̮͙̼̭̠͖̥̞̪̬̙̹̤͓͕̤̫͔̺͎͕̼͈̜̙̦͍͙̺͍̮̺̩̗͈̰͉̪͔͎͈̩̼̟̹̖̺̰̙̖̹̰̞̜̦͍͚͇̝̯̠̜̞̭͈̺̺̻̫̠͇̟̭̩̭̘͔̞͙̪̰͔͉̪̙͓̲̹͔̗͚̭̪̤̳̰̲͇͇͙̣̭̤͙̣̘̪̻̝̟̙͙̥̞̰̬̹̼̱̩͉͔̮͈̬̤͙̻̮̳̬̮̬̪̦̖͎̤̦̹̟̳̝͙̺̦̫͍̮̲͎̝̙͙͉͙̒̋̉̈͆͊̄́͆̐̐̂͗̈̊̐̽̊͑̑̓̕̚̕̚̕͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅȩ̴̡̧̨̨̨̡̧̨̛̩̮̰͓͙͈̞̟̤̠̣̩̣͎̳͚͈̹̥̰̝̣̝͍̞̺͖̫̤̼͔̼͇̯̤̲̦͈͎̱̘͕͙̩͕͍͍̲̘̘̹̭͈̤͓̫̻̫͈̼͉̱̹̗̦͚̘̩̖̠͓̯̟̟͚͙͔͙̄̾͛͆̄͜͜͝͝ͅͅ!̷̧̨̡̧̧̢̡̡̧̢̧̨̨̢̨̧̢̧̧̛̛̛̛̛̬̖̖͈̦͔̼̬̱̦̞̞̰͙͈̫͕̙̻͚̬̘̭̤͕̱̙̭̞͇͙͎̣͔̜͙̠͓͓̱̦̙̪̫͍̦͎̗̰͖̟̭̼͎̮̲̝͈̩͙̬̦̫͉͓͍̠͈̬̩͔͖̱͓̗̖͈͈̼̗͈͇̳̬͍̯̹̳̰͔̲̮̘̖͍̜̯̺͓͙͇̰̯͎͙̲̗͖̩̝̺̞̲̱̫̘͉̺̫̮̝̠̲̻̘͖̩͚̻͖̤̩̞͓̥͓̙̗͓̲̱̳̳̣̤̺̤̲̼̙̰̪̯̥͈͕̙͍͉͈̝̺̭̗̩̹̣̲͚̳͉̖̜̜͉̲̖̤͕̞̼͉͓̲̘̰̼̟̞͇̙̙͎̹͉̺͙͍̖̖͖̮̪̭̯̖̼̤̺̲̜̼͔̬̭̘̩̹̲̦͍̞̦͎̝̤̝̲̞̼͓͐̏̆̔̇̇͆̀́̓͋̿̒̋͐̄̓̈́́̐̓̍͋̃̅͂̏̂̎̋̓̓͊̿̋̀̓̒̈́̍̌͊͊̒̓̂̂̐̏̆͋̈̀̑̂̇̾͛̅̄̈́̋́̓̿̍͂̇͛̈̾̎́̾͛̇͊͆̀̾̌̍̀̓͘͘͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅͅ

[@David-ww2sg]

So cool to see how it actually works!! Would love to see more content like this 🙌

[@WHATSINSIDEFAMILY]

This is super cool to see and learn about

[@TheOnlyName]

Why hello there Dan!

[@m5902]

can you show us what they do with the first generation old wind turbine blades after change?

[@Bobbynutty]

Nothing

[@davidfairless1028]

@@Bobbynutty Landfill in Wyoming.

[@DrDoucheWizard]

Would be interesting to talk to what proportion of lithium waste is currently recycled, how that compares historically, and what projections are into the future. Also, is this method the only one used at an industrial scale or are there many options?

[@bigglyguy8429]

Yeah, the proportion is the important bit

[@j_laskada]

Agreed! Curious

[@db7948]

I cant say for certain but I would imagine almost all ev batteries are recycled because of the residual value they have.. once they get to the plant they are more than 97% recyclable

[@go9ro367]

There are many companies trying to stand up recycling facilities using a myriad of recycling approaches. Li-cycle was an early entrant and well-funded but its technology is unimpressive.

[@Hl2manchcnz]

​@db7948 one would hope, however just because the ingredients are valuable doesn't mean there are sufficient companies with the technology to recycle them. Thus leaving a void to fill with such recycle companies.

[@mylesmcarthur642]

With batteries that are made up of a large number of cells, it is also possible to refurbish many heavily degraded batteries into a smaller number of less degraded battery cells by using the least degraded cells from multiple used batteries, allowing the still useful battery components to be used longer before being completely being turned back into raw materials. Nissan has plants that do this to get replacement batteries for existing Leafs.

[@higherwireinc]

Yes it is, though it isn't widespread and not cost-effective for small consumer electronics packs. Most companies focus on prematurely recycling batteries well before they reach true end of life. Most EV packs, for example, are at about 80% state of health when they're removed from the car. Renewing them saves a significant amount of energy and carbon emissions vs. prematurely recycling. There are a dedicated few of us trying to address that inefficiency!

[@wesley00042]

Yeah, I wish someone was disassembling and sorting out good cells from those EV packs. Even if they end up all bad, separating them from the tray and recycling it separately would save a ton of energy versus grinding up and separating the steel, aluminum and copper.

[@AffordBindEquipment]

@@wesley00042 except for the intensive labor costs.

[@JRotten]

There is a company in NC that does just this. RV and Yaght owners are their biggest customers. Relacing house lead acid batteries with rebuilt EV batteries.

[@Adrian_kal]

It requires a lot of dangerous manual labor. Should be banned.

[@AgentOrange96]

Having lived in Rochester for five years, it's exciting to see that such a facility is being built there. Back in the day when businesses like Kodak and Xerox were booming, Rochester would have been hugely successful. Nowadays it's a shell of its former self, which is quite depressing. If it were to become a leader in lithium recovery, that could potentially bring some life back to the city!

[@ncrawford1488]

Unions, Democrats, and the drumbeat of technology emptied your city. With all the regulations and taxes, I can’t understand why any new business- especially one that involves the EPA would invest there. Those tax incentive commercials NY state used to run always struck me as unusual- so you’re saying that you understand companies can’t be competitive with the laws you have???

[@bagel_deficient]

I have no idea what sort of effect it may have, but it seems like a good thing.

[@GabrielIsserlis]

I also lived there for 7 years and felt the same. Proud of my second city home leading the charge!

[@AgentOrange96]

@@ncrawford1488 Rochester used to be a leader in technology. In fact that's why RIT is there, which is also why I spent five years there. I wouldn't blame technology for its downfall, but rather failure to keep up with it. While I personally despise both the left and the right, I currently actually live in Austin, which is very left leaning and technology driven and absolutely thriving. My best guess for what may make Rochester so appealing would be the availability of an eager workforce. Many people haven't actually left the city, but are struggling. Give them a solid opportunity and they'll take it. Otherwise, I'm not actually sure why Rochester. But I'm happy to see it happen.

[@danielrosenberg5969]

​@ncrawford1488 Kodak went under for passing on digital photography and xerox is a shadow of its former self because well, when was the last time you used a copy machine? It is still a fortune 500 company though. Reflect on your argument and come back when you can make something better than political nonsense.

[@p.h.m.kletersteeg117]

In the early eighties in Holland and Germany started subsidized collection/transport/processing of used batteries. The processing plants were in East Germany. Big suprise in 1990, when the borders opened; the "processing plants" were just....a landfill, where the batteries were dumped......

[@SpraYeRS77]

The video admits that the actual processing plants nearby are not even built yet but claim you can say that the batteries are already being recycled.

[@p.h.m.kletersteeg117]

@@SpraYeRS77 Almost all enviremental industries are frauds

[@jjay350]

I definitely have some questions about the "black mass" especially considering the lack of any real information on how it is processed. Seems like the greater vast majority of it's contents would be toxic waste.

[@restaurantattheendofthegalaxy]

What makes you say that? It’s just lithium, gallium, nickel & cobalt. It’s like high school chemistry to sort those out because they all have different weights, densities & properties.

[@jjay350]

@@restaurantattheendofthegalaxy There's a lot more material that goes into batteries, like plastics for example. Have fun trying to recycle all of that. The "black mass" is made up of waste byproduct that needs to be broken down to extract valuable material. There will be "toxic waste" as a result, material that cannot be reused or safely disposed of.

[@professorlaiceps1]

That process would be kept secret considering it is the money maker. I wouldn't be surprised if it got thrown away for fresh materials. Government substitutes is where the real money is but that is just from a skeptical mind lol

[@mellbenham6809]

You obviously know a lot about chemistry so please explain how the process works.

[@mellbenham6809]

They haven't actually done it yet if it were easy there would be other companies already doing it that said what they won't tell you is it will take some rather toxic chemicals and a lot of electricity to separate the different elements out its also a risky operation as Lithium in its pure metal form is highly pyrophoric on contact with air and if it comes into contact with water it reacts violently and produces explosive Hydrogen gas.

[@hapcot]

RIP. They just cancelled the Rochester location and are about to declare bankruptcy

[@Blowmindinventions]

Why? Is this business not profitable?

[@Senthiuz]

Massive cost overruns and project delays. To get a hint about how that happened: their primary vendor is Bisson Innovations. Chris Bisson is good personal friends with Tim Johnston, co-founder of Li-Cycle. This was a job for Siemens, Emerson, or Rockwell. Not a bronze-certified Rockwell system integration partner.

[@brucey5585]

Sad to hear this. The government is all for using tax money on chinese battery and solar. But they do nothing about recycling those batteries.

[@pistonburner6448]

@@Blowmindinventions Didn't you hear him say that from all that black mass they only got a nickel?

[@gunja0]

​@@pistonburner6448 makes me wonder where the rest of it goes 🫤

[@rvboyett]

You've always made great videos but this might be one of the best ones you've done in terms of importance. We've seen a lot of FUD spread over battery recycling or the lack of it. This video helps, a lot.

[@JoshuaRes]

100%!! Was reading silly comments this morning that this video would refute.

[@yincimaster8530]

While lithium is decently recyclable according to this video, and this facility is recycling batteries, it does not mean that all batteries (or even a good chunk) are recycled. This process is however very interesting. I wonder what the price of the finished product is, since the biggest reason for cooperations to _not_ recycle or _buy_ recycled materials is simply the cost.

[@ereder1476]

Are they profitable though? Or litteraly being paid to do this by taxpayer?

[@ereder1476]

@@KC13345 oh but the burning still happend. What's the percentage coal, and other fossile and polluting fuel represent in electricity's production? Electric car being the future is a fallacy. Only public transportation and it's efficiency will lead to progress in that domain

[@thomasreese2816]

1. A vast majority of batteries will be reused (grid storage and/or recycled). Most batteries are in cars, worth a lot of money, and won't end up in a landfill. 2. They may not be profitable yet, but most of these are funded by private investors with maybe a tiny percentage of government grants/loans, and will become profitable as they scale. 3. Using fuel to generate electricity for an EV is more efficient than putting it directly in a gas vehicle. EVs are far superior, regardless of energy source. 4. Solar + wind will add 3% to the global energy mix this year, and accelerating. The grid isn't clean yet, but it will be approaching 100% over 20 years.

[@calvin659]

Lol… What percentage black mass do you think gets reprocessed or reused? And where do you think the waste goes?

[@JohnDough-d6o]

What's the process to separate the metals (the mud)? Curious as to what type of waste comes from that.

[@krashd]

They likely heat the black mass in a big pot and let the metals separate according to weight, heavier metals at the bottom and lighter metals at the top, then they just keep skimming off the top and depositing what they have skimmed into different containers as they go down and the metal changes.

[@jack-o-wack-o3666]

I love this. Im glad i saw it too, because I went to a battery recycling place not too long ago and they told me that I would have to pay $60 to recycle some cell phone batteries. This really discourages people from recycling so knowing you can just find one of these boxes somewhere and you can just drop them off and go is nice.

[@iKaGe01]

We need more of these plants. Great video. I don't want these to end up in landfill

[@DJ-lq9gp]

Obviously can't argue, but what % of batteries make it there?

[@HvV8446]

@@DJ-lq9gpin that case its to the individual people to take responsibility, the infrastructure is there, its up to you and me to make sure that the batteries make it there. (Which is not difficult…)

[@HvV8446]

@@lawngnome777 based on your profile pic: do you know how bad burning russian tanks and ammo is for the environment??? I'll bet that's worse than this plant not running on green energy.

[@paulkerman8906]

@@DJ-lq9gp if you take lead-acid batteries as an example, near to 100%

[@ProXcaliber]

@@lawngnome777 That's the thing, though. The US has a very diverse energy mix, and it's very possible that this plant is powered by solar or other green energy, seeing as it's in Arizona. And as always, even if it is not currently, it can be as we move further to renewables and the process as a whole becomes cleaner. The processes for producing fuel, however, can never become cleaner or less carbon intensive, especially burning said fuel in an automobile or other equipment.

[@brchilly8310]

Working in the recycling industry myself at the moment ... cool to see that there is progress in this field . Though ... this all depends where you life and how local authorities handle waste management . In many countries this is still not the case , but we slowly getting there . Let's see how it all turns out in the future ;-) same goes for solar panel and windturbine recycling .

[@SyntheticSpy]

As the value of recycling batteries increases we will likely see much more of this. Since with batteries the recycled material is essentially a better form of what is mined, it is better to source the recycled material vs mined and refined material, so it should hopefully sort itself out just from a financial standpoint for big companies

[@cg8469]

Something that becomes abundantly clear the older I get is that regulation/punishment for situations like this is almost never the answer. If you make it simple, quick, and easy to access, the majority of the population will take advantage of the solutions provided to them. For instance, I've lived in a couple places where waste disposal is an extremely difficult task unless you are a commercial/industrial level company. Minimum fees up to 2,000 lbs, stuff like that. Compare that to some of the most backwoods, redneck states I've lived in with distributed satellite transfer stations free for anyone to use, and it is unreal how little trash you see on the side of the road. Batteries, oil, and bulk items are the big ones. If you think someone who replaced 2 toilets is going to pay $50 minimum at a landfill to get rid of them...... I've got bad news. Those used items are gonna wind up in a ditch somewhere on the side of the road in the middle of the night.

[@orangeflavoredmf]

@@SyntheticSpy What the hell are you talking about? Recycled materials are almost always lower grade and cost more than new stuff.

[@einfisch3891]

What's interesting is that going from the NMC or LCO or whatever cathode material is in the battery (Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide or Lithium Cobalt Oxide) is actually the bigger challenge here. That black mass unfortunately cannot just be put directly back into a battery and has to first be turned back into it's initial base metals before being manufactured into new material, which is actually quite a technical and chemical challenge with traditional hydro or pyrometallurgical techniques. One project I worked on as part of my graduate degree in metallurgy was studying the reaction of this material at high temperature using just hydrogen gas in order to reduce all these metals back from their oxide form into their base metals form. I believe there are now some companies trying this on a pilot scale using that technique.

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

Fascinating! I would have assumed it was refinable through traditional means (flesh eating acids and eldritch pressures and temperatures).

[@christopheryllescas9935]

What about the water, how long is it used and what happens at the end of its life? Closed system but for how long?

[@podunkman2709]

Only some really small % of batterries are recycled. Process is expensive and dangerous to environment. This the sad truth.

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

@@podunkman2709 So’s mining. Mining is honestly probably worse too, cause it is usual open and outside, which makes controlling dust and waste water even harder. And fossil fuel extraction is *definitely* worse.

[@theTayl0r]

Exactly why Li-Cycle is building a central facility for the separating and purification of those materials (in Rochester)

[@ccrraazzyyman]

My biggest concern with what's shown is the lack of actual reuse of the material. Sure, the process to grind and loosely separate the materials is very cool, but that's a lot of those shipping bags in the background. Reminds me of the Australian REDCycle recycling scandal where they collected all the stuff to recycle and just warehoused it instead. If you can get an invite to show us them processing that material that would be fantastic.

[@DanKuches]

YES! And, what grade battery can be made from the recycled batteries? How many times can it be recycled, i.e., a recycled battery back to the Arizona plant, again and again?

[@eddiefalcon8316]

This all looks very nice but I would feel more confident if there was some sort of peer reviewed data or equivalent that can verify these claims. I hope this process is as as clean as the video makes it seem 🤞

[@j_laskada]

Agreed! I would like to see what can you make with those bags

[@albertmaneri8224]

​@@e.j.schoute1987per the video, the water is in a closed loop system. It doesn't leave the the recycling plant. Now an accidental spill is a valid concern but that would be the same with any industry.

[@WJCTechyman]

I still laugh that he says zero emissions, and I know that's not true. Emissions were a byproduct of making that facility, emissions are a byproduct of shipping these batteries to this place, and emissions are a byproduct of the generating stations powering these facilities.

[@Darnokk15]

And how exactly is that "black mass" used, or to put it more accurately, how would it be used to produce a new battery?

[@TheBooker66]

But how do they extract the lithium, cobalt and precious metals from the black mass?

[@Npc-AA]

its quiet easy for chemist to explain, but you wont understand it if you know less in this area.

[@TheBooker66]

@@Npc-AA I'm actually quite knowledgeable in chemistry (which is, to be honest, an understatement), and my interest is not in ways to extract the metals, but in the specific way they use.

[@MagicCarpet-x3m]

Wow. This is the first real vehicle battery recycling I’ve seen. Wonder how much power it takes for the entire process. That black mud still needs to be processed further in a different facility.

[@tomtreimel7544]

Yes - wondering - what cost to do this. Where do they recycle the water / slurry. Plus when they remake into next battery - what is needed.... How good are the elements. Why did Musk not get this into his car build cycle.

[@iancouper3644]

They get made into more batteries

[@tomtreimel7544]

Yes. But what the degrade level.@@iancouper3644

[@echochamber8350]

It's a scam. Lithium is not recyclable

[@scatdog1]

Not to mention the slave labor to mine the lithium… and all the fossil fuel required to make the batteries, ship the batteries, and truck the batteries.

[@NanoMine]

The process looks very simple but I'm sure developing and perfecting this process required a ton of work. Great work! Would love to see more encouragement/incentives to recycle old batteries instead of mining new one.

[@ProXcaliber]

There comes a point where these companies can only do so much, and then it comes to the people that use these batteries to actually dispose of them properly, that means you and me.

[@NanoMine]

@@ProXcaliber Absolutely, people need to be educated about limited resources and importance of recycling. Perhaps governments should step in to educated and encourage.

[@ProXcaliber]

@@NanoMine I definitely agree that governments should be doing more to encourage recycling in general, not just for electronics and batteries. But the companies that we buy from can also do some encouraging themselves. Like, for example, a small kickback program for recycling the electronics or battery you are replacing or getting rid of.

[@rogerstarkey5390]

@@ProXcaliber Not just batteries. Let's say you are disposing of an old TV, or printer, etc. Pull the back off. Remove the circuit boards. Send them to these companies (same box as the batteries?) Those boards have Gold, Silver, Lead. Copper, Aluminum, Antimony, Silicon, and other compounds which can be ground up and recovered. Small amounts, but literally billions are discarded every year.

[@nickardecky7404]

@@NanoMine Perhaps governments should step in and say, collect our lithium batteries. The recycling should not ALL fall on the consumer. That's more prone to error than a paid government service that makes it easy to drop off, or collect. Recycling centers do exist in San Diego California, but I would have to drive 45 minutes, or longer, to reach these facilities and then wait in line. That's too much effort, especially if I'm just dropping off a small drill battery or something.

[@CM9999999999]

So how do you get the precious metals out of the black mud. All they have done is separate the battery into 3 bags. What do they do with the active element is the dissolving liquid

[@mcb187]

Totally sharing this with my grandma. She thinks that it’s impossible to recover anything from these batteries, and no matter how hard I tried to explain that there are absolutely ways to recover and recycle the material, she instincts it’s not.

[@IPlayGames3]

Same thing with my uncle!

[@JerryRigEverything]

Tell your grandma hi for me!

[@zigadabooga]

Same thing with my sister. Honestly this communication is a problem with otherwise progressive people just not accepting it.

[@AWildBard]

@@zigadabooga Maybe it's because we've been hearing that plastics recycling isn't really happening even though most of us do try to at least separate our trash and throw it in recycling bins. I don't think we should succumb to doom and gloom, but there is a lot of improvement that needs to be made. Cynicism is not without justification.

[@zigadabooga]

@@AWildBard it shouldn't be surprising that complex oil products aren't really recycled. But a metal is a metal. If we can mine a metal, we can recycle it. Hopefully it's not too late, and people accept EVs.

[@gregoryf9299]

2:45 actually I AM interested to see how the plastic is removed. I presume that’s part of the liquid process? - weakens plastic so it can be mechanically agitated/separated?

[@gymkhanadog]

"No air pollution in the traditional sense." So there *IS* still air pollution, just not from burning things.

[@OnyxVoyager]

Thank you for showing us your journey on this beautiful water system you've created. Shows us the important of water and how much we don't value it when we are in abundance, but when tragic events happen like yours, it really shows us the importance! Thank you again!

[@nater51]

My father in law is a scrap metal collector. I've lost count how many laptop battery packs he's gotten for me with working cells. I get floored how people don't look at the labels on batteries and notice how they indicate not to throw in the garbage.

[@edrodrigues3333]

You have not shown how they’re recycled, only how they are processed for shipping to a facility that does. Would be interesting to know how they separate the precious metals from each other and the percentage of usable materials.

[@Roboprogs]

True, but at least they made stable nonflammable (albeit toxic) black goop so they can ship the lithium and partner elements. From there it’s probably treated much like the original ore. So the question is how does this factory’s output compare with the cost of raw ore?

[@xxkwijiboxx]

when you mine ore you never hit a block of pure mineral, as for gold mine as example you get mines where you get about 2-3grams per tons of rocks. be that lithium mixed with whatever byproducts there is in the soup, they know what to add to separate and process it. i'd gladly watch the video for the next step!

[@ReggieArford]

And the fraction of batteries recycled is?

[@catnvol]

You are not supposed to ask reasonable questions, just accept the line he is giving you. You notice the actual transformation of the "goop" isn't on line yet. I suspect they ARE, however, getting taxpayer subsidies.@@Roboprogs

[@chriswisneski6071]

​@@ReggieArfordAll of the ones that are actually turned in to be recycled. Can't recycle batteries people toss in the landfill...

[@jjamespacbell]

Good video missing one important detail. What is the cost to produce 1kg of Lithium, copper, cobalt, etc from recycled materials vs making them from ores?

[@reginaldscot165]

How much of the black mass can actually be reused and is it as good as the original ore?

[@mariusavril2644]

While this process is very impressive what I am most interested in is how they separate the black mass into each subcomponent and purify it enough to make it useful. Does anyone have a link to a text or video describing this process? I did some digging and struck out.

[@zukomaki]

My exact same thought. Untill i see them take those bags of "black mass" with all the materials in it and actually producing a new battery of it, I am not buying into this. Atm all i saw was a place that seperates the plastic and copper and metal but the core material of your battery is in that black mud. So if that factory, that is going to use those bags and make new products of that recycled material, actually works only then can we say they are recyclable.

[@ProXcaliber]

@@zukomaki In the video, you can see some of the batteries they made in the background. However, a good idea on how they turn that black mass into usable materials is through chemical separation. Each element in that mass has different properties that can interact with different chemicals to be separated and then purified to be reused. I'd suggest instead of searching on how batteries are recycled, how batteries are made in general since that will give you a good idea of what is required. Separating the black mass into the needed elements is the easy part. The hard part is making the batteries. I'd also recommend looking into a company called Redwood Materials which is a company similar to this, doing the same thing, but they have videos on the entire process.

[@zukomaki]

@@ProXcaliber I'll be sure to look into that other company you mentioned. Would be nice to see the whole process. Though if you could send a link of the video you mentioned where they show the whole process that would help me a lot :D

[@brianyechout1058]

It’s nice to see that someone is doing the right thing with the old battery technology instead of just throwing it out.

[@iancouper3644]

I don’t know of a developed country that just throws out batteries, they really are easy to recycle 👌

[@tomtreimel7544]

We'll find out if it's the right thing in a few years.

[@stephenboyington630]

The typical car battery pack will be reused before it gets recycled. They will be used for energy storage systems attached to intermittent power generation, like wind and solar. They have value even when they are not efficient enough to run the car.

[@TheChrisheath7]

What is the cost? How much energy is used? Not convinced this is sn environmental "win". Not by a long way.

[@NSA-admin]

​@@TheChrisheath7well it's more efficient than mining again or throwing into landfills. Also creates jobs. This is a huge win and until some new process that is even more efficient comes along its pretty great! I don't know what's not to like about it.

[@theshawnkelly]

This is incredible, stuff like this is why I’m hopeful for the future of renewable energy

[@craigmatheson2736]

One factory. What percentage of all batteries make it to the recycle process and what percentage does not?

[@chestnu1]

I definitely want to see the next step in this process. But I would love to know why they are doing it so far away from the first step?

[@krashd]

Two separate companies, the guy who is building the next factory probably didn't want to move to another state or give hundreds of jobs to a state that isn't his own.

[@karloshagen]

Such a good video mate. Please keep the recycling videos coming. I am learning a lot 👍🏼

[@Hl2manchcnz]

A couple of questions here as I didn't catch you talk about a few numbers. What percentage of existing batteries are being recycled? For every battery getting sent to a landfill, how many are recycled? It's probably clear that LiCycle only processes a tiny fraction of batteries out there, so are they making a dent in the recycle process?

[@TruthFiction]

From a report I just saw a week ago, about 5% of the batteries are being recycled and the rest are either sitting in storage or sent to landfills.

[@jamesraymond1158]

Excellent report. Thank you Li Cycle for showing us.

[@puckplayer219]

I love what this channel has become. What started out with me watching videos thinking "I wonder what's inside an iPhone" has now become more of a learning channel, what with content like this, your electric hummer conversion, and your Not-A-Wheelchair videos. Super cool stuff!

[@JulesJulianLyle]

more like inside cool and innovative smartphones, the ones with new technology like foldables and the various hinges and cool stuff... iphones are so 2009, all the same boring stuff year after year...

[@xMegaVideos]

Showing people how separated waste (like batteries) are recycled will create more understanding and will result in more people bringing their batteries to a recycling point. So, share this video with everyone 🎉

[@c_users_nt_official]

I can really see him having his own TV show.

[@DJLyncho]

I reckon he'd get more views online. But yep having a show on TV would be good for the old Sunday rewatch right 😁

[@Calum...]

The age of TV is dead, mandem. But he would be great at making longer form documentaries

[@ventilate4267]

How it's unmade

[@alext6933]

I can't believe some people are still paying over $100 a month for cable tv

[@akeelmohamed1825]

Hmm

[@Lars_Paulsen]

It would be much better if the customers were paid some money for their old batteries. That way, people would deliver them much faster, just like we do in Europe with plastic bottles that you deliver to the store and get some money back.

[@jonproctor3739]

I agree. At the very least reimburse people for the enviro fees they're charged when purchasing. Good way to milk the customers. No "return fees" paid to customers, they're recycled & then re-sold to customers charging full rates full taxes & full enviro fees all over again.

[@MadMercsAirsoftReviews]

This is supercool, wish someone in the UK showed UK versions of these plants

[@DecanFrost]

Here in Denmark, we have to travel quite a distance to dispose of our old batteries responsibly. Which is weird, cause we already have trash separation like, organics, paper, metal, glass, plastic and everything else. Strange we don't have one for batteries and lightbulbs for that matter. Those are usually located outside super markets.

[@jonevansauthor]

As I said in a separate comment, battery sellers (supermarkets and electronics shops etc) all have to collect batteries for recycling in the UK. It's definitely a law worth passing and they're probably getting paid for the scrap value.

[@georgehill3087]

Fire hazard.

[@jonevansauthor]

@@georgehill3087 good point. Since the law was passed a decade or more ago, every single shop in the UK has burned down. Super dangerous.

[@georgehill3087]

@@jonevansauthor I was talking about end users throwing batteries into their own categorized recycle bin to be picked up. Recycling those at specific locations can be managed by the stores.

[@jonevansauthor]

@@georgehill3087 that makes more sense. Yes, you do need users to take them somewhere central because they shouldn't hang around for six years until you have enough to make it worth picking up.

[@dmedilicious8488]

Insider, National Geographic, BBC, etc all need to employ this dude

[@aneesh.augustine]

that wold be worst for him

[@Marc_Snuffy-]

@@aneesh.augustinehe would probably start taking things apart

[@dr_jaymz]

I agree, they would stretch it out to 3 1 hour episodes and dumb it right down.

[@gqqggq7127]

Don't even get started on NG... more like NFG

[@BernieBelcher]

Love the video, very informative. One thing that should be noted about recycling, we pay for a product then we throw it away, then without any price drop we have to pay for it all over again. And the big companies just keep making that money, at our expense. We the consumer should get paid to recycle. We pay upwards of $1,000 for a cell phone, then we do it again just to buy another recycled cell phone.

[@ravennaprojects]

Super interesting, I’d be curious to see how the black mass stuff is turned into batteries

[@ddbear8786]

That's the hard part, and why they don't show it. That part consumes tons of electricity. The net effect of this "recycling" is more pollution.

[@bagel080]

It would be great to see a comparison between recycled content and how much overall cost and energy used to recycle all the material and recreate a battery vs straight from mine to product.

[@AerialWaviator]

The video states 70% less cost and energy is require to harvest materials from the recycled stock vs. mining the materials from the Earth in the first place. ie: only ~30% of the original cost and energy is required.

[@bagel080]

@@AerialWaviator Thanks! Wow nice! It would be great to see a complete breakdown of the data used in the calculation, kinda like when you look at gov data. Lol.

[@JClaudeo]

@@AerialWaviator The video states 70% less energy is required to use this material VS new material pulled from the earth, however, cost is not included with the statistics in this video. Unfortunately, the physical cost to recycle materials is immensely expensive - its a huge issue that's been affecting the solar industry for years.

[@beanapprentice1687]

@@JClaudeo the cost to recycle these things will go down over time, just like how the cost to recycle lead acid batteries went down.

[@Mike-Tiger]

@@AerialWaviator How simple to get such profit?!! If this is true, giant companies would switch to this cycle business🤔

[@brawding1]

Always wondered how they separated it all safely, Great informative video. Thank you

[@perolito83]

Dumb questions but how do those batteries not blow up/catch on fire when they are crushed? Is them being submerged in water all it takes?

[@jamesbrett9537]

Great video, im happy to see processes like this getting developed. I know most countries still dont have facilities like this, but its great to see what the future may hold. Also many batteries have uses besides just being ground up and recycled. In many cases they can still be used on home solar systems, or the battery can be rebuilt, replacing the cells or modules that have gone bad.

[@warrensteel9954]

The reuse of old EV batteries actually slowed down the development of recycling processes. All the batteries were getting bought up before the recyclers could get their hands on them.🤣

[@orangeflavoredmf]

A dead battery has no use my friend.

[@SwitchedOnNetwork]

Fantastic video - and those EV batteries can of course also be used for several years as home or industrial energy storage once they're no longer suitable for use in a car but before they're recycled.

[@donenke5607]

Thank you for the video and education. I did not know about this but so glad to learn that this is taking place. Is this company subsidized by the government? How many other operations are there in the US or planned? Just questions running through my mind. Thanks again!

[@raybonecrusher4516]

Is there any kind of sludge from this process that has to be taken to a landfill? Is there any left over product that can't be re-used?

[@Mike0193Azul]

Glad to see recycling being done right and seriously! 💚♻️🔋

[@Marc-js8rx]

THIS was a worthwhile, informative video that addresses one of today's most hotly-contested -- and often propagandized -- topic: "What happens to all those used lithium car batteries???" Living in Gilbert, AZ, it warms my heart (not that we need anything ADDITIONAL to warm anything over here, mind you) knowing that GIlbert houses the largest Lithium recycling facility in the U.S.. An excellent walk-through of all the steps, along with the entire North American footprint this company is commanding. Wondering if this business came out of the "Chips & Science Act", along with other domestic-based, hi-tech businesses. Nice to see government making real changes for the better in some areas!! 🏁

[@goldviper5280]

The plant is at the North end of the air port, at Gateway Mesa Phoenix air field, off of Ray road.

[@funnycatvideos5490]

Yeah these companies are going bankrupt one by one it's all a part of the virtue signaling of being green. When they charge you a disposal fee for your lithium battery that tells you everything you need to know they are completely worthless. Every other recycled commodity you get a small payment when you recycle them. It's that simple

[@himdabo]

Hey Jerry, I got a better question for you. How about you explain how they’re going to separate the metals from the “black mass” without the use of large amounts of sulfuric acid?

[@bustbeel1]

Dirty liquid Acids just like what Chrome Shops use when Chroming old car Bumpers

[@bustbeel1]

It’s all BS !

[@christinedaniels5902]

Oh man this was so good to see,thank you 🙏 I am so sick of hearing comments that EV cars including their batteries, will just end up in landfill or EV graveyards polluting the world! And the best thing ever, my husband found your video, while I was in the room so I watched it with my husband who does NOT share my enthusiasm for EVs, citing stupid reasons such as you mentioned! 😂.

[@vencibushy]

I'd like to see some number on the actual prices of batteries that come form this process. I'd also like to see the performance of these products, compared to traditional manufacturing process.

[@andrewm8703]

They are returned to their original elements. There is no change in ability to hold a charge.

[@robertkubrick3738]

You can't buy a new replacement battery anyway, the best you can do is get a refurb made from cobbling together two already Failed packs.

[@andrewm8703]

@@robertkubrick3738 yes you can. Do some research please

[@calcolson2813]

I have a small business of fixing up broken power tool batteries. I recycle the left over cell and related products. My question is this How could I get ahold of some of those power tool battery packs?

[@christophermcdowell6704]

It's nice to see recycling ramping up for these batteries!

[@AndyGneiss]

I very much agree! (and nice pun, by the way)

[@jeffeskew7119]

All the recycling places end up bankrupt cause the cost to recycle is very expensive

[@doublebackagain4311]

Fenix EV battery recycle plant in Scotland burned for 2 straight days. Think of what that put into the air + how much ground water is contaminated.

[@FoolsGould]

I was literally just talking to my friends about how we can’t recycle EV batteries making the “environmental impact” basically pointless. Now I’ve eaten my words and will share this video with her later today lol.

[@joecool4656]

It’s a new process. I said the same thing

[@Lavafire1]

But I mean it’s great that you actually looked for it and learned it. You are willing to learn and even admit that you are wrong, a sign of great maturity

[@FoolsGould]

@@Lavafire1 heehee thank you :)

[@anthonypelchat]

Good on you. Also, a lot of EV and power tool batteries also end up in reuse centers where companies sort through decent ones to be used by the DIY community. I've built a few small things with some Model 3 cells. Others have done ICE to EV conversions and home storage solutions with EV battery modules.

[@cheeseburger1752]

Being able to admit you're wrong in the face of new information is a good sign of intelligence and maturity

[@Joeyzoom]

It's quite impressive how clean the plant is. Stewards of environmental consciousness at work. Thanks for sharing!

[@izzi0644]

Interesting. In the past Very little form a lithium battery was reusable so I'm curious to know how much of the is actually being recycled and if it's worth the time and money. Is the chemical toxic ?

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

Toxic? Almost certainly. But so are many of the wastes produced by mining and refining these materials in the first place. As for the “black gold” itself, I suspect the answer is probably “not enough”. But that’s absolutely not a reason to not work to make that answer “all of it.”

[@izzi0644]

@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356 I was asking if the chemical was toxic because he said something about it all being non toxic or something along those lines . Insinuating that noting was bad about and 100% good for the earth. Obviously it's not but I was pointing it out. Batteries are difficulty not the solution but it's an attempt. If the cost to recycle exceeds the cost or production and the toxicity of receiving is high enough then it's definitely not worth it and just adds to the long cons list for Batteries

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

@@izzi0644 Batteries are indeed not perfect. But people are too afraid of hydrogen for consumer cars, and continued burning of oil will quite literally kill us all.

[@izzi0644]

@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356 we arent going to die at the rate they claim. Everyone dies, the earth will end some day. There are no solutions, only trade offs. We can go back to the stone age, millions of people will die, survival of the fittest . Or we can slow down incrementally ensuring that we have the oil to keep everything running and people have a reliable, affordable way to heat, transport, cook, live . Plants eat co2 also . Oil runs literally everything. Even 15 min cities can't run without it.

[@vertigo8715]

no china, india and the likes will kill us all with near zero regulations on pollution.

[@bobbyvh786]

Are there any risks of these car batteries catching fire especially the high-powered ones during this recycling process as are fully charged or partially charged when they go into the shredder and what happens to the power that’s in it how is it discharged

[@daveparkes8539]

So I googled the cons of li-ion battery recycling. The term PYROMETALLURGY comes up. I believe that's when they ship the black mud to another plant and extract and separate the goo from the gold😮 They won't be talking about that poisonous process. That would be the video to make. I'd bet the battery recovery plant sponsored this video 😂

[@MuhammadZeshan]

I don't think so that the video is sponsored, I am a very old subscriber here, and I've seen Zack mentioning sponsor if it is.

[@seanplace8192]

I've known about lithium battery recycling for a while, but I've never seen an actual step-by-step process of how it's done. Neat!

[@SilvaDreams]

But you didn't see any recycling. All you saw was some processing to break them down. I bet you 99% of that will be burned or end up dumped in some poor African country.

[@TwoToTheSix]

@@SilvaDreams The EU is currently scrambling to outlaw the export of battery black mass, primarily to Asia, because the metals it contains are so valuable

[@seanplace8192]

​@@SilvaDreams Why would a company spend tons of money recycling a battery if they had no buyers for the material?

[@SilvaDreams]

@seanplace8192 Government kick backs for "recycling" plus they'd sell the metal and likely dump or burn the rest.

[@Kysen10]

I had no idea the whole EV battery could be crushed/grinded without starting a fire.

[@Pugjamin]

It’s done under water.

[@niter43]

​​@@Pugjamin presence of water can put battery on fire instead, lithium reacts with it (self-ingnites and violently burns even submerged) That's probably magic of "proprietary liquid" 1:26

[@fss1704]

The proprietary liquid is industrial soap, not that secretive tbh

[@mb00001]

Oxygen is the problem with cracking open a battery, the Lithium reacts with it and you have yourself a dangerous fire, Water is Hydrogen and Oxygen so don't try to put out a battery fire with Water

[@kde5fan737]

it is discharged! Please don't listen to 95% of the people on this page (including the host of this channel - he seems to be dangerously ignorant on much of what he talks about - it's almost like someone else writes his content.....). Charged EV batteries are INCREDIBLY dangerous - they never won't be unless they come up with a new battery technology that at this time is basically magical.

[@JohnD-JohnD]

What is the "proprietary liquid" in the shredder? Mineral oil? Also, this isn't fully recycled at that plant, this just makes the black mass that contains the various metals. How is it processed after that point?

[@DavidHalko]

6:40 - “lithium batteries are thrown into landfills or not recycled” Most are not recycled… upwards of 95%, from recent studies. I am glad to see this occurring, other recycling plants are showing up in Georgia, as well as Arizona. The big question is… how does one drop off an 80+ lb EV battery modules for recycling? People are using them for home energy project today. If there is no place to drop them off, they will wind up in landfills.

[@desertodavid]

@DavidHalko, what 80lb EV battery are you talkin about? EV car batteries weigh thousands of pounds! 1:00

[@DavidHalko]

@@desertodavid - I like my LJ98-10C779-AE modules, they are serving me well, but at some point each module will need to be recycled. Put 16 in an EV, and you get over 1000 lbs. EV car batteries often come in modules, so each module can be assembled, like legos, into different configurations…. From cars to crossovers to SUV’s, to get economies of scale in manufacturing, not tied to specific manufacturers.

[@desertodavid]

@@DavidHalko thanks for the info. However I will never own an electric vehicle simply because I don't want to appear hypocritical to the knowledge that the climate hysteria is a hoax.

[@DavidHalko]

@@desertodavid - hey, I got the modules at 20 cents on the dollar, to make a battery backup system for my house. Technology is not bad, but people who try to mislead others are bad.

[@nzb2102]

Watch again. The factory is empty. 1 ev battery, 1 Nokia phone battery, 1 power drill. The factory who would use the black stuff is still being built. So now you probably understand. It's subsidies, your money.

[@SmartieTV]

This is truly amazing! Exactly what we need for our transition to sustainable energy.

[@JackThelRipper]

I love what there doing to recycle these precious and heavily used materials for future use, my main question is where are they gonna get the power to recharge all of these wonderful gadgets and cars in the next 10-20 years??? Serious question since In allot of areas power grids are already over loaded and then to throw in more energy sucking batteries for EV cars without having the system in place to produce that new juice?

[@constantbuzz]

@@JackThelRipper Sounds like jobs in infrastructure. From 1955 to 1975, most everyone got air conditioning, which was a massive increase in consumption.

[@cenkaytekin]

Finally a video on KZbin that openly shows what's happening to batteries after they are toast! Thank you Zack!!!🚀

[@Max24871]

What he didn't say is probably more important than what he did say: - Currently there is no use for that ground up black mass. There is no large scale reprocessing of it that's actually working right now anywhere. There are plans, but they might still turn out cost prohibitive. - Recycling rate of lithium batteries is very poor. Most people chuck them out in the garbage with the disposable devices they came in.

[@brettfafata3017]

@@Max24871 Thanks for the information. Recycling is good but we need to realize it is not a silver bullet and the technology must improve to reach our goals.

[@miw8925]

Great video, love you lots!!!

[@tubejim101]

What do they do with the plastic?

[@rovert1284]

Recycling is always over sold. Never really seems to work out without subsidies.

[@billkraemer4710]

Which is why it is oversold, subsidizing.

[@alexcb016]

It would be great to have a series of battery to battery recycling!

[@stefaneekenulv419]

Real pragmatic eco-friendly action No ideological BS Just hands-on tech Love it!

[@armstronglance]

Awesome!! The materials guys, chemists & physicists who figure all this out are amazing! I’m a EE, we do amazing things in electronic design, fab, test & prod. But it’s our material guys, who figure out all the chemistry & solid state physics at the molecular and atomic level, who REALLY amaze me!!!

[@paulanderson7796]

Completely missing the point here. The black mass still requires significant processing. As you cite, the processing plant is under construction.

[@loucinci3922]

Great tour. Didn't know that. Do you know if the priority liquid is a conductor? My guess is NO - how else cold it crush the batteries without causing a short. Can't wait to see the other side of this coin. Thanks for sharing

[@JerryRigEverything]

Correct - the liquid is non conductive - otherwise things would get real crazy real quick!

[@ProjectPhysX]

​@@JerryRigEverythingmy guess is it's some perfluorocarbon liquid, something like 3M Novec? Mostly chemically inert, but recent studies found when it's ingested or gets into the environmet, PFAS don't ever disappear, and might be very toxic if accumulated enough. PFAS contamination is highly problematic.

[@bachaddict]

@@ProjectPhysX or an oil that's dense enough that all the plastic floats on it

[@ProjectPhysX]

@@bachaddict I don't think oil is feasible. The least dense plastics is 0.92 g/cm³ (polypropylene), and oils go only up to 0.97 g/cm³ (heavy crude oil). PFAS are much more reasonable at ~1.8 g/cm³.

[@VintageLPs]

Strangely enough, I just removed the lithium batteries from three old flip phones and have been wondering where I can recycle them. Thanks for this video. The last time I took my regular used batteries to Batteries Plus, the guy charged me $4 for a small Baggie full of batteries. It used to be free.

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

Lots more batteries now. Also, ironically, probably more expensive to recycle. Modern batteries are more efficiently designed: Read: Less lithium for your buck when taking them apart.

[@TonyWright-tf5zy]

Tells you just how profitable recycling is..

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

@@TonyWright-tf5zy All about the process and material cost. Tell’s you nothing about it. If anything, expensive batteries probably mean that the difficulties of recycling them are more likely to still pay off. Your assumption here is based on information that “tells you” nothing, except if one’s own bias colors it heavily.

[@funnycatvideos5490]

@@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356 When you're paying people to take you Use batteries that should tell you it is less than worthless.

[@RryhhbfrHhgdHhgd356]

@@funnycatvideos5490 Tricky to define this when the economies of scale that would be necessary to make it profitable, if it can be, are not built up yet. Until they are, it’s really quite hard to say much about the profitability. At the very least, it might still be worth doing because it *will be*, once easily accessible cobalt is all exploited.

[@peterazlac1739]

Unfortunately due to the fire risk there is no future in lithium ion batteries which are being replaced by safe sodium ion ones. Will this process still be viable when there is no or only a limited market for the lithium though it will still remain for the cobalt and nickel.