As the formation process accounts for more than 50% of a LAB factory’s energy usage, manufacturers can substantially reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, whilst adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to their bottom line.

Is the tried and trusted lead-acid infrastructure the way forward for recycling lithium-ion EV batteries? In this special feature article, technical editor Dr Mike McDonagh looks at the challenges facing the commercial reuse of LIBs.

Dr Steve Sloop, CEO of OnTo Technology, describes how direct recycling holds the key to the cost-effective re-purposing of cathodes by unlocking the potential of the original energy and materials used to first fabricate them. By repairing rather than breaking-up the metals used in cathode construction considerable energy and materials, that would otherwise be wasted, can be saved.