Abstract
The increasing deployment of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) requires effective recycling strategies to reduce environmental impacts and dependence on critical raw materials. In this study, a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of two LIB recycling routes, a pyrometallurgical process (Pyro) and a hydrometallurgical process with co-precipitation (Hydro), was performed using a Python-based process modeling framework. The LCA was carried out using an attributional approach, with impacts referred to 1 kg of spent LIBs treated at the recycling facility inlet, considering a representative mix of battery formats and cathode chemistries. Results showed that, when normalized per kilogram of treated batteries, the Hydro route is more impactful than the Pyro one, particularly in terms of global warming potential. The Pyro process does not enable direct cathode regeneration but allows the recovery of high-purity metal salts, whereas the Hydro route enables the production of re-formed NMC-111 cathode material that exhibits lower environmental impacts than virgin cathode production. Overall, the study highlights how rigorous process modeling integrated with LCA enables a detailed and non-trivial assessment of LIB recycling sustainability, revealing trade-offs that are not evident from simplified or purely qualitative analyses.