{
  "node": {
    "id": "term:lithium-recovery",
    "type": "Term",
    "label": "Lithium recovery",
    "properties": {
      "id": "lithium-recovery",
      "name": "Lithium recovery",
      "aka": [
        "early lithium extraction",
        "lithium-first recovery"
      ],
      "section": "topic-recycling",
      "definition": "Getting the lithium back, which smelting loses to slag and older hydrometallurgical flowsheets left until last at low yield. Newer routes take it out first — by roasting or carbonating black mass and washing out a lithium salt — before the other metals are leached.",
      "related": [
        "lithium-carbonate",
        "precipitation",
        "collection-target",
        "pyrometallurgy",
        "raffinate"
      ],
      "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium-recovery/",
      "mentions": [
        "lithium-salt",
        "black-mass",
        "smelting",
        "slag"
      ]
    }
  },
  "edges": [
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      "type": "relatedTo",
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      }
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        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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    },
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      "id": "edge:relatedTo/term:lithium-recovery/term:raffinate",
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      "target": "term:raffinate",
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        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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      "id": "edge:mentions/lithium-recovery/slag",
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      }
    }
  ],
  "neighbors": [
    {
      "id": "topic:topic-recycling",
      "type": "Topic",
      "label": "Recycling and end of life",
      "properties": {
        "id": "topic-recycling",
        "name": "Recycling and end of life",
        "lede": "What happens to a battery after its first life: reuse, and the recycling routes that recover its materials, step by step.",
        "context": "Distinguish recovered material from a qualified product.",
        "example": "High mass recovery alone does not establish battery-grade purity or refining energy demand.",
        "lesson_url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/fundamentals/cell-production/",
        "lesson_label": "Open process context"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Lithium carbonate",
      "properties": {
        "id": "lithium-carbonate",
        "name": "Lithium carbonate",
        "abbr": "Li₂CO₃",
        "aka": [
          "LCE",
          "lithium carbonate equivalent"
        ],
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The commodity form in which most lithium is traded and the lithium source for LFP and mid-nickel cathodes. Lithium carbonate equivalent, LCE, is the unit the industry uses to count lithium supply whatever its chemical form.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-hydroxide",
          "brine",
          "spodumene",
          "calcination",
          "lithium"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium-carbonate/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:precipitation",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Precipitation",
      "properties": {
        "id": "precipitation",
        "name": "Precipitation",
        "aka": [
          "hydroxide precipitation",
          "carbonate precipitation"
        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Recovering a dissolved metal as a solid by adding a reagent that makes it insoluble — nickel and cobalt as hydroxides, lithium as carbonate with sodium carbonate. Co-precipitating nickel, manganese and cobalt together gives a precursor directly.",
        "related": [
          "solvent-extraction",
          "lithium-recovery",
          "precursor",
          "crystallisation",
          "mixed-hydroxide-precipitate"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/precipitation/",
        "mentions": [
          "cobalt",
          "manganese"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:collection-target",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Collection and recycling targets",
      "properties": {
        "id": "collection-target",
        "name": "Collection and recycling targets",
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "The EU Battery Regulation’s quotas: portable batteries collected at 63 % by 2027 and 73 % by 2030, light-means-of-transport batteries at 51 % by 2028, with recycling efficiencies of 65 % for lithium-based batteries by 2025 and 70 % by 2030, and material recovery of 50 % of lithium by 2027 rising to 80 % by 2031.",
        "unit": "%",
        "related": [
          "eu-battery-regulation",
          "recycling",
          "extended-producer-responsibility",
          "recycled-content",
          "recycling-efficiency",
          "material-recovery-target"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/collection-target/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:pyrometallurgy",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Pyrometallurgy",
      "properties": {
        "id": "pyrometallurgy",
        "name": "Pyrometallurgy",
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Recycling by smelting whole cells or modules in a furnace, which recovers nickel, cobalt and copper as an alloy but loses lithium, aluminium and graphite to the slag. It is robust to mixed feed and is often the first step before a hydrometallurgical finish.",
        "related": [
          "hydrometallurgy",
          "black-mass",
          "recycling",
          "smelting",
          "slag"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/pyrometallurgy/",
        "mentions": [
          "graphite",
          "cobalt"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:raffinate",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Raffinate",
      "properties": {
        "id": "raffinate",
        "name": "Raffinate",
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "The aqueous solution left after solvent extraction has taken out the target metals. In battery recycling it carries the lithium, which is recovered from it last by evaporation and precipitation.",
        "related": [
          "solvent-extraction",
          "mixer-settler",
          "lithium-recovery",
          "bleed-stream"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/raffinate/",
        "mentions": [
          "recycling",
          "precipitation"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:lithium-salt",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Lithium salt",
      "properties": {
        "id": "lithium-salt",
        "name": "Lithium salt",
        "aka": [
          "LiPF₆",
          "LiFSI"
        ],
        "section": "topic-electrolytes",
        "definition": "The dissolved salt that supplies the mobile lithium ions in a liquid electrolyte, almost always lithium hexafluorophosphate, LiPF₆, at about one mole per litre. It reacts with traces of water to form hydrofluoric acid, which is why cells are filled in a dry room.",
        "related": [
          "electrolyte",
          "carbonate-solvent",
          "dry-room",
          "hydrofluoric-acid"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium-salt/",
        "mentions": [
          "lipf6"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:black-mass",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Black mass",
      "properties": {
        "id": "black-mass",
        "name": "Black mass",
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "The dark powder of mixed electrode materials left after end-of-life cells are discharged, shredded and separated from their casings, foils and separators. It is the traded intermediate that hydrometallurgical refiners buy.",
        "related": [
          "recycling",
          "hydrometallurgy",
          "pyrometallurgy",
          "mechanical-pretreatment",
          "froth-flotation"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/black-mass/",
        "mentions": [
          "electrode"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:smelting",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Smelting",
      "properties": {
        "id": "smelting",
        "name": "Smelting",
        "aka": [
          "alloy",
          "matte"
        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Melting battery material in a furnace with fluxes so that cobalt, nickel and copper collect as a metal alloy or matte and the rest — lithium, aluminium, manganese — goes to the slag. The organic parts and graphite serve as fuel and reductant.",
        "related": [
          "pyrometallurgy",
          "lithium-recovery",
          "hydrometallurgy",
          "slag",
          "flue-dust"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/smelting/",
        "mentions": [
          "graphite",
          "cobalt",
          "reducing-agent",
          "manganese"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:slag",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Slag",
      "properties": {
        "id": "slag",
        "name": "Slag",
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "The molten layer of oxides that floats on the metal in a smelter, collecting aluminium, manganese, silicon and calcium, and lithium unless the process is designed to recover it. It is tapped separately and used in construction or, where it holds enough lithium, leached.",
        "related": [
          "smelting",
          "pyrometallurgy",
          "lithium-recovery",
          "flue-dust"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/slag/",
        "mentions": [
          "manganese"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "visual:lithium-chain",
      "type": "Visual",
      "label": "Lithium is recovered last, so its chain is the shortest",
      "properties": {
        "title": "Lithium is recovered last, so its chain is the shortest",
        "summary": "Lithium passes the same units as nickel and cobalt and is then recovered from a dilute raffinate, where most of its loss happens.",
        "readout": "R_Li = 0.92 × 0.99 × 0.99 × 0.98 × 0.85 = 0.751. The 80 % row for 2031 needs a lithium step recovery of at least 0.905.",
        "formula": "R_Li = y_black mass × η_leach,Li × 0.99 × 0.98 × r_lithium step",
        "note": "The purification (0.99) and solvent-extraction bleed (0.98) factors are held at the study’s defaults. The EU rows are Annex XII Part C of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542.",
        "software": {
          "status": "reference",
          "label": "Reference concept",
          "body": "battery-core does not model recycling. The Lemonergy closed-loop recycling study follows lithium through each unit of a returned fleet’s route.",
          "href": "../glossary/#topic-recycling"
        },
        "html": "<figure class=\"visual-figure\"><figcaption>Lithium recovered against the lithium step</figcaption><svg class=\"visual-chart\" viewBox=\"0 0 360 330\" role=\"img\" aria-labelledby=\"static-lithium-chain-0-title static-lithium-chain-0-desc\"><title id=\"static-lithium-chain-0-title\">Lithium recovered against the lithium step</title><desc id=\"static-lithium-chain-0-desc\">Lithium step recovery versus Chain recovery of lithium (%). Chain recovery of lithium; EU row for 2027: 50 %; EU row for 2031: 80 %. Interpretation follows the graphs.</desc><path d=\"M74,238h268\" stroke=\"currentColor\" opacity=\".13\"/><text x=\"64\" y=\"242\" text-anchor=\"end\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">0</text><text x=\"74\" y=\"265\" text-anchor=\"middle\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">0.5</text><path d=\"M74,188.5h268\" stroke=\"currentColor\" opacity=\".13\"/><text x=\"64\" y=\"192.5\" text-anchor=\"end\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">25</text><text x=\"141\" y=\"265\" text-anchor=\"middle\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">0.625</text><path d=\"M74,139h268\" stroke=\"currentColor\" opacity=\".13\"/><text x=\"64\" y=\"143\" text-anchor=\"end\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">50</text><text x=\"208\" y=\"265\" text-anchor=\"middle\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">0.75</text><path d=\"M74,89.5h268\" stroke=\"currentColor\" opacity=\".13\"/><text x=\"64\" y=\"93.5\" text-anchor=\"end\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">75</text><text x=\"275\" y=\"265\" text-anchor=\"middle\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">0.875</text><path d=\"M74,40h268\" stroke=\"currentColor\" opacity=\".13\"/><text x=\"64\" y=\"44\" text-anchor=\"end\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">100</text><text x=\"342\" y=\"265\" text-anchor=\"middle\" font-size=\"13\" fill=\"currentColor\">1</text><path d=\"M74,40v198h268\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" opacity=\".3\"/><polyline fill=\"none\" stroke=\"#2459a8\" stroke-width=\"2.8\" points=\"74.00,150.52 76.68,149.64 79.36,148.77 82.04,147.89 84.72,147.02 87.40,146.14 90.08,145.27 92.76,144.39 95.44,143.52 98.12,142.64 100.80,141.77 103.48,140.89 106.16,140.02 108.84,139.15 111.52,138.27 114.20,137.40 116.88,136.52 119.56,135.65 122.24,134.77 124.92,133.90 127.60,133.02 130.28,132.15 132.96,131.27 135.64,130.40 138.32,129.52 141.00,128.65 143.68,127.77 146.36,126.90 149.04,126.02 151.72,125.15 154.40,124.27 157.08,123.40 159.76,122.52 162.44,121.65 165.12,120.77 167.80,119.90 170.48,119.02 173.16,118.15 175.84,117.27 178.52,116.40 181.20,115.52 183.88,114.65 186.56,113.78 189.24,112.90 191.92,112.03 194.60,111.15 197.28,110.28 199.96,109.40 202.64,108.53 205.32,107.65 208.00,106.78 210.68,105.90 213.36,105.03 216.04,104.15 218.72,103.28 221.40,102.40 224.08,101.53 226.76,100.65 229.44,99.78 232.12,98.90 234.80,98.03 237.48,97.15 240.16,96.28 242.84,95.40 245.52,94.53 248.20,93.65 250.88,92.78 253.56,91.90 256.24,91.03 258.92,90.16 261.60,89.28 264.28,88.41 266.96,87.53 269.64,86.66 272.32,85.78 275.00,84.91 277.68,84.03 280.36,83.16 283.04,82.28 285.72,81.41 288.40,80.53 291.08,79.66 293.76,78.78 296.44,77.91 299.12,77.03 301.80,76.16 304.48,75.28 307.16,74.41 309.84,73.53 312.52,72.66 315.20,71.78 317.88,70.91 320.56,70.03 323.24,69.16 325.92,68.28 328.60,67.41 331.28,66.53 333.96,65.66 336.64,64.79 339.32,63.91 342.00,63.04\"/><polyline fill=\"none\" stroke=\"#6953a8\" stroke-width=\"2.8\" stroke-dasharray=\"7 4\" points=\"74.00,139.00 342.00,139.00\"/><polyline fill=\"none\" stroke=\"#a45b2b\" stroke-width=\"2.8\" points=\"74.00,79.60 342.00,79.60\"/><text transform=\"translate(208 303)\" text-anchor=\"middle\" font-size=\"14\" fill=\"currentColor\"><tspan x=\"0\" dy=\"0\">Lithium step recovery</tspan></text><text transform=\"translate(20 139) rotate(-90)\" text-anchor=\"middle\" font-size=\"14\" fill=\"currentColor\"><tspan x=\"0\" dy=\"-8\">Chain recovery of lithium</tspan><tspan x=\"0\" dy=\"16\">(%)</tspan></text></svg><div class=\"visual-legend\"><span><i style=\"background:#2459a8\"></i>Chain recovery of lithium</span><span><i style=\"background:#6953a8\"></i>EU row for 2027: 50 % (dashed)</span><span><i style=\"background:#a45b2b\"></i>EU row for 2031: 80 %</span></div></figure>"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "reference:harper-recycling",
      "type": "Reference",
      "label": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
      "properties": {
        "title": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
        "publisher": "Nature",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1682-5",
        "type": "Review article",
        "scope": "Reuse, disassembly and mechanical, hydro-, pyro- and direct recycling routes.",
        "year": 2019,
        "authors": [
          "Gavin Harper et al."
        ],
        "accessed": "2026-10-27"
      }
    }
  ]
}