The Electric Vehicles’ Recycling Process to Carbon Neutrality Mission in China Tends to Be Negative: Depending on the Technology Transition

While electric vehicles are widely used, the number of waste lithium-ion batteries is increasing. The recycling and reproduction of materials with high environmental load is the key to the sustainable development of the electric vehicle power battery industry. This study conducted the life cycle assessment of CO₂, PM_2.5, SO₂ and NO_x emissions in the recycling stage of electric vehicles in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China. The relevant conclusions are: electric energy makes a great contribution to pollutant emission. When taking 1 kg as functional unit, the emissions of SO₂ and NO_x in the recovery process of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) power battery are lower than those of Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) battery, while CO₂ and PM_2.5 are opposite. When taking 1 kWh as the functional unit, NMC power battery has better recovery and emission reduction effect than LFP, because it has higher mass and energy density. In particular, the recovery of active materials plays a significant role in NMC battery emission reduction. For CO₂, recycling does not bring better effects on emission reduction. To achieve carbon neutrality, the recycling process must be optimized. However, for PM_2.5, SO₂, and NO_x, recycling can in turn help reduce emissions in the production process, and the value is more obvious.