Recycling Potential of Rare Earth Elements and Cobalt in WEEE-Batteries

Kurzfassung Abstract List of figures List of tables List of appendices List of abbreviations 1. Introduction 1.1. Preface 1.2. Objectives 2. Background information 2.1. Rare earth elements 2.2. Cobalt 2.3. WEEE-batteries 2.4. Nickel cadmium batteries 2.5. Nickel metal hydride batteries 2.6. Lithium-ion batteries 3. Materials and methods 3.1. System boundaries 3.2. Calculation model 3.3. Data acquisition 3.4. Data estimation and uncertainties 3.5. Theoretical recycling potential 3.5.1. Material composites 3.5.2. Battery systems 3.5.3. Battery mass fraction 3.5.4. WEEE generation 3.6. Recycling path 3.6.1. WEEE collection 3.6.2. WEEE treatment 3.6.3. Battery sorting 3.6.4. Battery recycling 4. Results 4.1. Theoretical recycling potential 4.1.1. Theoretical recycling potential of rare earth elements 4.1.2. Theoretical recycling potential of cobalt 4.2. Recovered amounts 4.2.1. Recovered amounts of rare earth elements 4.2.2. Recovered amounts of cobalt 5. Discussion 5.1. Qualifying the research results 5.2. System analysis 5.3. Recommendations 5.4. Future developments of the Li-ion battery market 6. Conclusion and outlook References Appendix