Lithium recycling

Q: How toxic is lithium?

Lithium batteries or accumulators are dangerous if a chemical reaction occurs as a result of short circuit, overcharging, damage or external heating, for example. Fire and explosion hazards can occur, as well as toxic fumes. Lithium battery fires release fumes containing hydrogen fluoride. When you go to put out fires, lithium hydroxide is released. And of course, as with any fire, carbon monoxide. Bystanders can suffer significant health problems from a lithium battery fire. That’s why it’s so important to take lithium recycling seriously. Damaged lithium batteries disperse Ethylene Carbonate (EC), Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC), Diethyl Carbonate (DEC) and Ethyl Methyl Carbonate (EMC) when kept hot. This is toxic mess.

Q: Can lithium be recycled?

Yes, lithium recycling is possible, although the processes for this are still under development. After separating all the materials from the lithium battery or accumulator, treatment generally takes place to isolate all the individual components. After this, the various components receive a chemical treatment, such as acid or alkaline extraction. This is how you isolate and purify the lithium ions. You can then reuse these.

Q: Is lithium environmentally friendly?

Mining lithium releases a variety of harmful substances, such as tar and mercury. The hydrochloric and sulfuric acids used in the processing can end up in the soil, water and air. Also, extracting lithium from underground waters, as in Chile, can disrupt the ecosystem. Lithium recycling will therefore become increasingly important in the future.

Q: Strategic Reliance on Lithium

Due to the developments in Eastern Europe and the increasing aggression of China, we have become increasingly aware that for energy transition and greening of the car fleet we have become very dependent on lithium for batteries from countries we would rather not do business with. Meanwhile, there is news that reserves of lithium have been discovered in Northern Europe, but the actual mining of this lithium will take years. The European Commission has already indicated that one of the ways we can reduce our dependence on lithium for battery production is through lithium recycling. And so this is definitely not just about the metal lithium, but also about other metals such as cobalt, nickel, manganese and the rare earth metals.

With the increasing popularity of cell phones, the use of lithium batteries also grew They are more common in everyday life than you might think and can certainly pose risks in specific situations. That is why it is so important that lithium recycling be done in a safe manner.

For collection and recycling of lithium batteries and lithium batteries, IT Recycling is the right place to go. Good to know: lithium recycling is NOT free and costs from €2.50 per kilo plus €100.00 start-up costs.

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Lithium recycling - The process

For an appointment for lithium recycling, call 0413-249756 directly or easily schedule an appointment online. This service only applies to businesses, not individuals.

Step 1: Make an appointment

Click “Make an appointment” and choose “Lithium Battery.”

Step 2: Number of kilograms

Indicate whether it is more or less than 200 kg.

Step 3: Schedule date

Make an appointment and you will receive a confirmation email with a pick-up date.
We will be in touch for exact details and price.

Step 4: Transportation

On the appointed day, our ADR drivers will pick everything up.

Step 5: Certificate

Within 5 working days you will receive an environmental certificate, transport document and the invoice. Costs are from €2.70 per kilo plus €120.00 start-up costs.

If the lithium batteries and accumulators are still in computers or cell phones

Because lithium batteries are very dangerous and can quickly catch fire if damaged, it is important to recycle them safely. We at IT Recycling have therefore modified our system, improved fire safety and made the storage of lithium batteries a special fire safe. This makes us compliant with the new standard PGS37. We also updated our environmental permit. If the batteries and accumulators are still in computers, laptops or other devices, it falls under ordinary computer recycling.

We remove the batteries or accumulators from the devices later in the recycling process. For users of laptops, computers or cell phones, the process remains the same as computer recycling. You can simply keep devices with lithium batteries or accumulators and have them picked up by IT Recycling free of charge.
Just like any other computer hardware.

When it comes to loose lithium batteries only, we specifically talk about lithium recycling. Having these batteries collected costs money. The cheapest option is standard batteries such as those from laptops, bikes and cameras. We collect these at the minimum rate, for which you can see the current price list.

For professional lithium batteries, such as those from a car, forklift or a solar battery next to your home, we will provide a quote.

We also collect damaged batteries, batteries that have been on fire or in water, but this is more expensive because of the high risk. We have these unstable batteries transported by an outside specialist.

All other transportation with lithium batteries for recycling we do ourselves. IT Recycling has ADR (what is ADR?) and our drivers all have ADR certification and fire safety training.

In short, if you have old lithium batteries and want them picked up for recycling, IT Recycling can help.

Make an appointment online now.

If the batteries and accumulators are loose

By this we mean that it is only the batteries or accumulators, so they are no longer in a device. Unfortunately, you can’t have the loose batteries picked up for free. This is because lithium recycling is currently much more expensive than the metals coming out of the various devices.

Lithium batteries and accumulators still in the device

Because lithium batteries are extremely dangerous and can catch fire with the slightest damage, a safe way of recycling lithium is necessary. We have also updated our environmental permit.

Recycling lithium

Environmental Permit

Recycling lithium batteries

Lithium batteries are incredibly flammable. Therefore, we recommend that lithium batteries always be stored outdoors, not indoors. When you store lithium batteries for eventual recycling, it is important that you put them in special blue barrels with a special flame-extinguishing substance called vermiculite. This is a legal requirement; there must also be special stickers on them. This all sounds difficult, but fortunately we offer advice. You can borrow both the blue barrels and the vermiculite for free from IT Recycling. So you make your own, safe “storage lithium batteries” and right away with the gooey stickers.

Tips from our experts

Here are a few more tips from our experts that will greatly reduce the likelihood of problems:

Take old lithium batteries really seriously. Think about your own safety and the safety of your colleagues;
Always store old lithium batteries outside;
Buy a special F500 fire extinguisher and notify your safety advisor. Do you do FAFS training? Tell your trainer you have lithium batteries and an F500 extinguisher on hand;
Before choosing a recycler, find out if they are ADR certified, if they are allowed to accept batteries and if they have WEEELABEX certification;
For lithium battery storage: store the old lithium batteries and lithium batteries OUTSIDE in a special plastic barrel with a UN mark and fill the barrel halfway with vermiculite (available at hardware stores);
Small amounts of lithium batteries and accumulators can go to the recycling or supermarket. That’s really better than storing them! Larger quantities? Have an expert do this, you can’t do this yourself.
Do you have a phone or device that suddenly starts smoking? Use gloves and take the device outside as soon as possible. Let it burn out there. Never extinguish it!
Fire and lithium batteries? Life-threatening! Then evacuate your company as soon as possible. Use only two people and the special F500 fire extinguisher. Lithium fire quickly produces toxic gases, so be really careful! You must not extinguish the fire with water, or you will get an explosion. Also important to know: fire extinguishers other than the F500 will not work.

Lithium recycling at IT Recycling

Lithium batteries have already caused quite a stir left and right. This makes it all the more important to keep lithium recycling safe. Do you have large quantities of lithium batteries and lithium accumulators, can’t figure it out or are in doubt? Or do you have a problem with lithium batteries? Then contact us without obligation at steef@it-recycling.nl or call us at 06-53468704 or 0413-249756. We will be happy to give you advice and help you get rid of your old lithium batteries.