Fullständig LCA-rapport över utvalda processteknologier för sydafrikanska och europeiska kontext : ELiMINATE projektleveranser av arbetspaket 2: 2B.1 – Scope och inventeringsanalys, - 2.B2 – konsekvensanalys och tolkning av resultat, - 2B.3 – Anpassn

In this report, we conducted a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) study to compare the environmental impacts of two promising hydrometallurgical lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling technologies. Initially proposed were nine current and two novel methods were proposed, from which a screening LCA in an earlier phase of the project narrowed down the technologies to two.Our comparative analysis focused on the European Union and South African contexts, updating life cycle inventory data for the current technology to match the waste material composition used in the novel technology experiments. We assessed impacts across five categories: Abiotic depletion, Acidification potential, Eutrophication Potential, Global warming potential (excluding biogenic carbon), and Ozone layer depletion potential.Based on our full LCA studies, we found that the difference in environmental performance between the current and novel technologies is negligible, with the current one performing slightly better. Furthermore, the geographical analysis reveals that the EU is favourable for hydrometallurgical LIB battery recycling technologies due to its lower electricity-related impacts.