South Africa could recover more value from discarded batteries and solar panels by developing products local industries can use, according to electronics and hazardous-waste recycler Reclite SA.
Speaking at WasteCon in Johannesburg, Reclite SA Research and Development Engineer Dr Dominic Vooght said recycling innovation needed to address the technical challenges of material recovery, minimise secondary waste and generate sufficient value to make processing economically sustainable.
“Batteries and solar panels contain a combination of valuable materials, hazardous components and tightly bonded structures. A sustainable recycling process has to address how we separate and recover those materials, what additional waste we generate and whether the value recovered justifies the cost,” Vooght said.
Much of the discussion around lithium-ion battery recycling centres on critical metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. Batteries also contain graphite, electrolyte, copper, aluminium, separators, and polymers, and how they are treated affects how much of the cell can be returned to productive use.
Graphite presents separation and purification challenges, but discarding or destroying it means losing material that has already required energy and resources to produce. Ongoing research is exploring ways to recover graphite and convert it into other products, such as hard carbon, for use in other applications.
Battery electrolyte presents another opportunity. It is chemically complex, can contain hazardous constituents and is typically removed and sent for liquid waste treatment. Reclite SA is examining ways to minimise the secondary waste generated during processing while recovering useful elements and compounds.
“We can recover salts with potential uses in chemical processing, including alkaline leaching in battery recycling, or applications in other industries. The objective is to manage the resources within the electrolyte, recovering useful compounds while safely managing its hazardous constituents,” Vooght said.
Solar panel recycling presents similar challenges. Aluminium frames and glass account for much of a module’s mass, but recovering value across the product also requires consideration of silicon, silver, copper, encapsulants and backsheet materials, as well as potentially hazardous components.
Changing panel composition adds an economic challenge. Vooght illustrated the decline in silver content from around 0.18% in 2003 to around 0.10% in 2023. Lower silver content could make processes centred on recovering that metal less economically attractive, while difficult fractions such as bonded polymers and lead-containing components still require treatment.
“A process developed today needs to account for the waste it will receive in future. As the material composition changes, we need to consider where the recoverable value will be and how to develop processes that remain viable,” he said.
Vooght said South African recycling processes needed to suit local waste streams, operating conditions and markets for recovered products. International technologies could inform this work, with adaptation where necessary.
“Resource recovery and product development need to be considered together, so that we produce materials local industries can use. Through efficient process design and innovation, the aim is to generate enough value to cover recovery costs and progressively reduce dependence on gate fees,” he concluded.
