Economic assessment of the LithoRec process

First published in
Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management  
Start Page
253
End Page
266
Citation
Economic Assessment of the LithoRec Process. In: Kwade, A., Diekmann, J. (eds) Recycling of Lithium-Ion Batteries. Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management. Springer, Cham. (2018) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70572-9_15
Publisher DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-70572-9_15
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85062990332
Publisher
Springer
The successful implementation of an industrial-scale recycling process depends strongly on its economic feasibility. Thereby, the economics are influenced by many drivers such as the amount of returned batteries, the prices that can be obtained from selling the recycled material fractions, and investments and operating costs resulting from the process configuration. In this chapter, an analysis of the economic feasibility of the LithoRec process is carried out using an optimization model for technology and capacity planning. The model is applied to different scenarios describing the development of the amount of spent batteries and factor prices for the European market. From this, optimal investment plans and financial performance indicators are determined. Overall, the results indicate that the process can be operated economically in the long run. In most scenarios, the operation pays off by selling the recycled materials. Only when the amount of returned batteries is low, moderate gate fees or economic incentives by policy makers would be required.
DDC Class
330: Wirtschaft
600: Technik