There’s no denying that cordless products are handy, their lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries power smartphones, electric cars, cordless vacuum cleaners, digital cameras and even electrical toothbrushes. But the UK does not have the raw materials to manufacture Li-ion batteries or recycle them and as these batteries degrade they pose a fire or even an explosion risk. The Birmingham Energy Institute’s Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials have been speaking to ‘Wired’ and ‘Which?’ Magazine about their plans to overcome this challenge.
The Centre in partnership with the University of Leicester, University of Newcastle, Cardiff University, University of Liverpool, Oxford Brookes University, University of Edinburgh, Diamond Light Source and 13 industrial partners are collaborating on the Faraday Institution Recycling of Li-ion Batteries (ReLiB) project.
The project will determine the ways in which spent lithium batteries can be recycled. ReLiB aims to establish the technological, economic and legal infrastructure to make the recycling of 100% of the materials contained in Li-ion batteries possible.
To find out more about Li-ion batteries and the impact they are having on the environment, please read the following articles:
Which? Magazine – How environmentally friendly are cordless products?
Wired Magazine – The spiralling environmental cost of our lithium battery addiction