Material Flow Analysis for Closed-Loop Recycling of Lithium-Ion Battery Components

Abstract

Growing electric vehicle adoption is generating increasing volumes of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, intensifying interest in closed-loop recycling systems capable of recovering critical materials for reuse in new cell production. This study applies material flow analysis to trace lithium, cobalt, and nickel pathways through a regional battery recycling network, mapping losses occurring at collection, dismantling, and metallurgical recovery stages. Rather than assessing recycling efficiency at the process level alone, the analysis considers system-wide material retention across the full recovery chain, identifying where cumulative losses most significantly reduce overall circularity. Findings show that collection and pre-processing stages account for a disproportionate share of material loss relative to the metallurgical recovery stage itself, largely due to inconsistent battery labeling and manual sorting error. We model the effect of improved sorting protocols and standardized labeling on projected material recovery rates, finding meaningful gains achievable without changes to downstream recovery technology. These findings suggest that near-term circular economy gains in battery recycling may depend more on logistics and information standardization than on metallurgical process innovation, offering a practical prioritization framework for recycling infrastructure investment.