Recycling car batteries is a process that allows the recovery of the valuable raw materials used in the manufacture of the battery. Proper electrical waste management also neutralises the effects of the elements in the device's composition. Modern battery recycling methods therefore help to eliminate substances that are harmful to humans and the environment, and take care to reduce waste.
Recycling car batteries - what does it involve?
Both on Polish and international roads, electric vehicles have been on the road for a relatively short time. Therefore, most drivers have not yet had to replace the batteries of their electrics. However, as time passes and the number of kilometres driven increases, the battery loses its initial capacity. At around 80 per cent of its initial capacity, it starts to become less effective, thus requiring replacement. What happens to an old battery when it is removed from an electric car?
Contrary to popular belief, the consequence of replacing batteries is not the disposal of car batteries. Batteries that are in good condition go into energy storage, where they give up their unused resources. This process continues until the battery capacity has fallen to around 30% of its original value.
When a battery is no longer suitable for power supply, this does not mean that it is completely useless. On the contrary! This is when electric car battery recycling comes onto the scene. Battery recycling involves the recovery of the raw materials that are in the device's composition. And there are quite a few of these.
It is worth knowing that car batteries are manufactured using valuable rare earth raw materials. We are talking about cobalt or lithium, but not only. Together with nickel and manganese, these elements form the main components of the battery cathode. The battery anode for the electrician, on the other hand, is largely made up of graphite. There is also a fair amount of aluminium in the battery construction, which forms the casing of the entire device. In addition, the automotive power pack also has copper, plastic and steel parts.
Most of the cell components and the battery casing itself can be recycled. This ensures that a battery that is no longer suitable for powering a car does not waste its potential. Recovered battery components can be reused in the future, thus avoiding repeated extraction and refining. 
How are car batteries recycled?
Recycling lithium ion batteries, but also other batteries, is a very important stage in the life of a battery. In a world of galloping consumerism, care must be taken to keep the production of rubbish to a minimum. For this reason, a branch of the industry that recycles car batteries has developed in recent years. Their activities have resulted in three main methods of battery recycling.
The first way of recovering raw materials from electrician's batteries is called mechanical. It involves shredding the equipment in special mills and machine separation of the waste into fractions of specific raw materials. Another solution used to recycle automotive batteries is called hydrometallurgical. In this method, the battery is treated with acids or alkalis in which electronic waste is dissolved.
The third way of recycling automotive batteries is based on their thermal treatment. With this method, the processing of the battery takes place in suitable furnaces. These melt the metals and thus enable the recovery of used materials.
All of the above-mentioned treatments allow almost complete recovery of the raw materials from the battery that once powered the electric car. They are therefore a more prudent and cost-effective solution than the disposal of electric car batteries. The latter merely neutralises the environmental and human impact of waste, but does not exploit the potential of the battery's valuable components. 
Does recycling car batteries have a negative impact on the environment?
Recycling car batteries is a set of environmentally friendly measures that enable us to eliminate unwanted chemical components and waste from our environment. It should therefore definitely be emphasised that recycling has a positive impact on the environment.
The natural advantages of resource recovery include minimising the re-excavation of raw materials, thus saving the earth's limited resources. Recycling car batteries also prevents batteries from ending up in landfill. Accumulation of waste serves no one, and when it comes to the rubbish associated with the electrochemical industry, it is all the more inadvisable.
Storing used batteries can lead to chemical transformations in the soil, water or atmosphere. Harmful substances can thus enter the food chain and even reach animal or human organisms. It is therefore worth ensuring that the battery components are properly neutralised during recycling processing.
