Does an Atom Really Live inside a Cathode? The Case of Nelson at Redwood Materials and its Exploration of the Environmental Impact on Battery Cells

The cathode is a marvel of molecular choreography. How much power a battery holds, and how long it lasts, depends on its lattice of metallic atoms—how well it can catch and release lithium ions. Engineers have used designs that help move this movement along. If the electrical vehicles and phones of today are a good barometer, then they have gotten pretty good. But the cathode is also the place where things inside the battery typically go wrong. The structure is so nicely arranged that it starts to lose its integrity. Ions run loose, or clog up. The battery life goes kaput.

But even as the structure fails, the atoms inside of the cathode haven’t changed. It is believed that it should be possible to reuse them. Alan Nelson is the Senior Vice President for battery materials at Redwood Materials, a company that specializes in recycling. It isn’t clear if it was in a battery or a mine. This could be a good thing, since a lot of those atoms are in short supply and only found in places where they are easy to find and less expensive to mine. Today, Nelson’s company released the results of tests at Argonne National Lab comparing recycled materials to virgin ones. These suggest it’s true that an atom is an atom; the performance of the two materials was almost exactly the same.

Redwood is one of a number of companies trying to turn a supply of old batteries into materials for new ones. It could ease some of the pressure on new mines by using up waste and using less gas. The company chose a site outside of Reno, Nevada where it would spend billions on a new plant, after it decided to begin production of its own recycled raw materials. It says it will make enough material for 100GWh worth of batteries by the year 2025, roughly the same amount as what China’s CATL produced last year.

A closed loop of battery production is one of the reasons why Chinese firms remain dominant, according to Hans Eric Melin. Having battery cell production at home means it’s possible to break down scrap materials and quickly put the valuable metals back into production. The complex supply chain that refines the raw metals into that perfect crystalline cathode structure is also localized, centralizing expertise and reducing transportation costs.

The companies are in a difficult position. If they don’t invest in factories, machines and workers they will lose ground to competitors. If they invest too early, they’ll run out of cash before lots of batteries arrive.

But for all the optimism, this new business faces a daunting challenge: Few batteries will be available to recycle for a decade or more. Tesla, which dominates the electric vehicle business, began selling cars in 2008 and until 2017 sold fewer than 100,000 cars a year. There are other sources to recycle today, including hybrids and consumer electronics, but the supply is limited and collection can be challenging.

Frederickson is the managing director of operations for Call2Recycle, a nonprofit program that helps recycles find old batteries.

The companies also have to figure out how to find, collect and dismantle batteries. They have to work with many dismantlers, scrap yards and nonprofit groups. And because batteries are prone to fires and packaged and built differently from model to model, taking them apart can be complicated and dangerous.