How is an LFP, NMC or LTO battery recycled?

Every lithium-ion battery goes through the same route of discharging, dismantling and shredding. After that the chemistry decides the economics. YouPower Recycling, our Battery Disassembly Center, takes in lithium batteries, screens them and dismantles them safely. Our page on lithium battery recycling shows each step, from intake to black mass. NMC batteries carry valuable nickel and cobalt. LFP batteries carry mostly lithium, iron and phosphate, so recycling them costs money instead of earning it. This article explains why, and what it changes for your disposal.

Your forklifts, UPS strings or storage system run on lithium, and one day they have to go. Then you hear two stories. One says old batteries are full of valuable metals, so a recycler should pay you. The other, from a Belgian forum: "it is cheaper to buy new raw materials than to recycle them".

Both are true, for a different chemistry. An NMC battery still has metal value; an LFP battery mostly does not. A company that expects a buy-back for LFP is disappointed. A company that mixes chemistries or cannot say what it has gets the price of the worst case. And an unknown battery that nobody wants to classify often stays in the warehouse corner.

At our Battery Disassembly Center, batteries from cars, home batteries, e-bikes and other lithium applications come in. The first thing we determine is the type and features of each battery. Only then is it clear how it can be handled safely.

What is inside an LFP, NMC or LTO battery?

The name of the chemistry tells you which metals sit in the battery, and those metals decide the recycling. All three are lithium-ion. They differ in the material of one electrode.

Sources: VITO (LFP contains lithium, phosphorus and graphite, but no cobalt or nickel); Battery Design (LFP black mass, LTO anode).

The choice between these chemistries for a new battery is another question. Our article on LFP, NMC or sodium-ion for a business battery compares safety, life and cold. Here we look at the other end of that life.

How is a lithium-ion battery recycled, step by step?

First mechanically, then chemically. The battery is discharged, dismantled and shredded. The shredding gives metal fractions and a fine powder called black mass, which a refinery then processes.

At our Battery Disassembly Center, our shredding machine dismantles the battery. It separates copper, aluminium, heavy carbon and black mass. The steps before that, from intake to safe disassembly, are in our article on what a company must do with old lithium batteries.

The black mass then goes to a refinery. Two routes dominate:

• Pyrometallurgy (smelting): the material is melted at high temperature. At Umicore in Belgium, above 1,000 °C, this gives an alloy of nickel, cobalt and copper, a lithium-containing flue dust and a slag. In classic smelting, lithium, aluminium and manganese end up in the slag and are not economically recovered (Battery Design).
• Hydrometallurgy (leaching): the material is dissolved in acid and the metals are separated into salts. This route also recovers lithium, aluminium and manganese, with lower direct emissions than smelting (Battery Design).

Both routes were built for metals that are worth money. That works for NMC. For LFP it is the weak point, as the next section shows.

Why is NMC black mass worth more than LFP black mass?

Because NMC black mass contains nickel and cobalt, and LFP black mass does not. NMC and NCA black mass typically holds 2 to 7% lithium, 5 to 20% cobalt and 10 to 30% nickel by weight (Battery Design).

LFP black mass has neither cobalt nor nickel. Its recoverable value is close to the lithium content alone, plus iron and phosphate that are generally not worth recovering. In the words of a Fastmarkets analyst: "The lack of nickel and cobalt kills the economics of recycling LFP batteries."

Those are gross values, before any cost for collection, transport and processing. And they move with the metal markets. Fastmarkets reported that lithium prices fell by 59.4% between September 2023 and September 2024. When lithium is cheap, an LFP battery is worth even less to a recycler.

Why does recycling an LFP battery cost more than an NMC battery?

Because the metals in an LFP battery do not pay for the work. Collecting, discharging, dismantling and refining cost about the same for any chemistry. Only NMC brings enough metal back to cover those costs.

Fastmarkets reported in September 2024 that European recyclers asked gate fees of around 3,000 to 4,000 euro per tonne of scrap LFP batteries. For scrap NMC batteries, gate fees were around 0 to 400 euro per tonne, depending on location and company.

Argus Media wrote in 2023 that recycling through smelting and leaching is largely unprofitable for LFP and LMO batteries in Europe and the US. NMC and NCA recycling, by contrast, earned about 10 dollars per kWh of profit in Europe and the US.

Still, LFP must be recycled, and the law pushes it. EU rules require recyclers to recover 50% of the lithium by the end of 2027 and 80% by the end of 2031, whatever the chemistry. Belgian research is working on cheaper routes. VITO takes part in ReUse, a European project running from 2024 to 2026. It develops direct recycling of LFP: the cathode material is recovered and regenerated instead of melted or dissolved.

What happens to an LTO battery at the recycler?

It follows the same lithium-ion route, but its value depends on its cathode. An LTO battery uses lithium titanate instead of carbon on the anode. The options for the cathode vary by maker (Battery Design).

So the label LTO alone does not tell a recycler what the battery is worth. Paired with an NMC cathode, it carries nickel and cobalt. With another cathode, it may carry neither. Ask the supplier for the cathode chemistry before the battery reaches end of life, and keep that datasheet.

LTO cells are made for many cycles, with a nominal voltage of about 2.4 V per cell and a wide temperature range. Battery Design gives 3,000 to 8,000 cycles. That long life means LTO batteries reach the recycler late, but they do reach it.

Who pays for recycling your company's battery: the producer, you or the recycler?

In principle the producer, whatever the chemistry. Under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, producers of industrial and EV batteries must take back waste batteries free of charge. That holds regardless of chemical composition, condition, brand or origin (article 61).

In Belgium, producers usually do this through a scheme such as Bebat, or Febelauto for EV batteries. For many batteries the cost is built into the purchase price as an environmental contribution. Forum readers complain about it ("Bebat is ridiculously expensive"). But it is exactly what pays for the gate fee on an LFP battery later.

The cost can still land on your company in three cases:

• Nobody can trace the producer. The brand has disappeared, or the battery was bought abroad or second-hand without a registered producer in Belgium.
• You are the producer. A company that imports batteries itself, or builds its own system from modules, can take on producer duties.
• Extra handling. A damaged battery needs special packaging and transport. Our article on old lithium batteries in a company explains the ADR rules and safe storage.

What does the chemistry change for your company's battery disposal?

Five habits make disposal cheaper and safer, whatever chemistry you run. They start on the day you buy the battery, not the day it dies.

What happens when you bring LFP, NMC or LTO batteries to YouPower Recycling?

We start by finding out exactly what you have.

1. Step 1: You tell us what you have: type, chemistry if you know it, number, weight and state of the batteries, and where they are.
2. Step 2: Intake and assessment at our Battery Disassembly Center. We determine the type and features of each battery, assess its condition and check how far the cells are damaged. If needed, we take extra safety measures.
3. Step 3: Screening. A battery that is found suitable can be reused in second life applications. If not, it is treated as end of life after the measurements.
4. Step 4: Safe disassembly and shredding. Experts take the battery apart with clear instructions, and our shredding machine separates copper, aluminium, heavy carbon and black mass.

Need storage that lasts, after the old batteries are gone? We also design and install a business battery around your consumption, and take on maintenance and repairs of existing battery systems.