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Excerpt from techxplore.com
As electric vehicle (EV) demand accelerates, so does the need for lithium batteries. But these batteries contain valuable critical minerals, as well as toxic materials, so they should not be treated as common waste.
Unlike China and some European countries, Australia lacks a dedicated lithium battery recycling facility. Just 10% of Australia’s lithium battery waste was “recycled” in 2021. This means the batteries were collected and shredded locally before being sent overseas for recycling.
Shipping large volumes of spent batteries overseas is complex and risky. Lithium batteries have been known to start fires. A cargo ship laden with lithium batteries caught fire off the coast of Alaska in December 2023. The fire burned for days.
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