Lithium ion battery recycling process utilizing magnetic separation of electrode materials

A recycling process for directly recycling lithium battery components from lithium batteries or lithium battery manufacturing scrap, wherein the batteries or scrap comprise a cathode comprising a cathode active material and carbon particles bound to an aluminum foil by a polymeric binder;

• an anode comprising an anode active material coated on a copper foil;
• and optionally:
• an electrolyte comprising a lithium electrolyte salt in a non-aqueous solvent;
• and a polymeric separator membrane;
• the process comprising the steps of:
• (A) shredding lithium batteries or lithium battery manufacturing scrap;
• (B) separating the electrolyte, if present, from the resulting shredded battery fragments by washing the fragments with an organic solvent;
• (C) drying the resulting electrolyte-free fragments from step (B);
• (D) removing at least a majority of separator membrane fragments from the resulting dried fragments of step (C) by aspiration with a stream of gas leaving a heavies composition;
• (E) magnetically separating the heavies composition on a rare earth roll separator apparatus into a magnetic fraction comprising cathode fragments, and a non-magnetic fraction;
• (F) removing the binder and carbon particles from the cathode fragments in the magnetic fraction;
• (G) recovering the cathode active material remaining after step (F);
• (H) relithiating the cathode active material;
• and
• (I) recovering the resulting relithiated cathode active material.