The use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has rapidly increased recent years, mainly due to the global adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Continued growth is expected, which will inevitably lead to a large amount of battery waste. Proper recycling is then required to reinsert valuable raw materials to the value chain. Recycling of LIBs are normally initiated by disassembly, followed by various mechanical and metallurgical treatments. Disassembly is one of the most labour intensive steps when recycling LIBs. Considering the expected growth, a fully automated disassembly process will be required. However, this represents a non-negligible investment.
Determining the optimal disassembly level prior to recycling is a crucial step that must be considered before investing in automated disassembly. Currently, most EV LIBs are only disassembled to module level prior to recycling. Instead, disassembly to cell level could produce greater purity material streams and less material to handle downstream. The question is whether or not it is economic viable to carry out deeper robotic disassembly down to cell level instead of stopping at module level. This study presents a techno-economic
assessment of a robotic module disassembly line, furnishing guidelines on the necessary degree of automation in EV LIB disassembly. Different case study scenarios are proposed, demonstrating that investments in a robotic module disassembly line could be profitable
