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3 Comments:
I'm glad this is being looked in to. This is a question I've had looking into electric vehicles. I feel that EV's are the right direction but we still have a long way to go!
It's not just the lithium, recycling technologies across the board are inefficient and expensive. My understanding is that usually only one primary target is addressed in recovery efforts, say gold from electronics with the remaining rare earths and materials usually ending up in a landfill or as hazardous waste. It honestly makes me question the value of electrification of vehicles, sort of like nuclear power plants and the still unavailable solution to expended fuel. As I remember it expressed decades ago: "It's like jumping off a cliff and planning to build a parachute on the way down." We never learn, profit always displaces prudence.
Juan - I don't disagree! The expense is proportional to the amount that can be recovered. So a small AA battery is more expensive to recycle than a much larger car battery.
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I'm glad this is being looked in to. This is a question I've had looking into electric vehicles. I feel that EV's are the right direction but we still have a long way to go!
by Amber Taus
It's not just the lithium, recycling technologies across the board are inefficient and expensive. My understanding is that usually only one primary target is addressed in recovery efforts, say gold from electronics with the remaining rare earths and materials usually ending up in a landfill or as hazardous waste. It honestly makes me question the value of electrification of vehicles, sort of like nuclear power plants and the still unavailable solution to expended fuel. As I remember it expressed decades ago: "It's like jumping off a cliff and planning to build a parachute on the way down." We never learn, profit always displaces prudence.
by Juan Garcia
Juan - I don't disagree! The expense is proportional to the amount that can be recovered. So a small AA battery is more expensive to recycle than a much larger car battery.
by Dan