[HN] Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found - eviltoast
    • labsin@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      How are lithium batteries non-renewable? The batteries are mostly metal and can be truly recycled, as in the recycled product can be as good, or even more pure, then new. This almost 100% recycle chain, is now already the case for lead batteries.

      The process for recycling lithium ion batteries is worse cause they are highly flammable. They need to be disassembled by hand and then put through difficult processes. The percentage that gets recycled right now is low cause of the cost. But the price of recycled lithium is becoming lower and new higher. Car batteries are already being recycled as they need to be disassembled and processed cause of the fire danger anyway.