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• Environmental impacts of battery recycling are mainly contributed to chemical reagents and energy consumption. • Battery remanufacturing using recycled materials yielded significant environmental benefits. • Battery remanufacturing using recycled materials through multi-recycling-approach is evaluated. • Reducing carbon emissions from battery recycling and manufacturing is highly dependent on the electricity mix. Although recycling retired lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can alleviate global warming and the energy crisis, the environmental impacts of different recycling routes require further assessment. The multiple environmental indicators, such as carbon footprint and cumulative energy consumption for three hydrometallurgical recycling and remanufacturing routes of LIBs in China are quantified and compared using life cycle assessment methods. Then, the potential of reducing environmental impacts by battery remanufacturing with recycled materials is assessed. Moreover, the sensitivity of battery recycling and remanufacturing to temporal and geographical variations in electricity generation is determined. Results reveal that: (1) Differences in chemical reagents, energy consumption, and processes lead to differences in environmental indicators of battery recycling, with a gap of up to 29.3 kg CO2 eq./kWh in carbon footprint. (2) Due to avoiding raw material mining and processing, battery manufacturing with recycled materials can reduce the endpoint environmental categories by more than 18.4% compared to that with raw materials. (3) The environmental impacts of LIBs remanufacturing through a multi-recycling-approach will gradually decrease and reach to a constant, with the lowest carbon footprint of this route being only 61.1 kg CO2 eq./kWh. (4) The carbon footprint of LIBs manufacturing in China in 2050 can be more than 37.5% lower than that in 2021. Battery recycling and decarbonization of energy systems can reduce environmental impacts and contribute to the sustainable development of the transportation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The life cycle assessment of three mainstream hydrometallurgical routes for nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries is performed. • Environmental protection potential of battery remanufacturing is assessed. • Carbon footprints of the recycling and remanufacturing under various scenarios are calculated and predicted in China. With the large-scale application of electric vehicles, the environmentally-friendly recycling of retired lithium-ion batteries is becoming a severe issue. Here, the process-based life cycle model is established to evaluate the environmental impacts of different hydrometallurgical routes, and the environmental potential of battery remanufacturing is investigated. Results suggest: (1) The environmental burden during recycling is contributed by high consumption of electricity and auxiliary materials, the difference of carbon footprint (CF) and cumulative energy demand (CED) for different recycling routes can reach 60.3% and 64.2%, respectively. (2) The CF and CED of the nickel-manganese-cobalt (NCM) batteries remanufactured with recycled materials are 34.1% and 17.5% less than those manufactured with raw materials, respectively. (3) The CF of battery remanufacturing with recycled materials can be significantly reduced in provinces with high-proportion of renewable energy in electricity in China. Under China's electricity structure in 2050, the CF of NCM manufacturing with recycled materials can be reduced by 38.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Life cycle assessment of different advanced direct materials recycling routes for two types of batteries is conducted. • The carbon footprint and cumulative energy demand can be significantly reduced by battery remanufacturing with recycled materials. • Eighteen environmental indicators of NCM and LFP batteries are comprehensively investigated. • Environmental assessment can promote the development of direct material recycling technology for batteries. Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles is a meaningful way to alleviate the global resource crisis and supply chain risks. However, the environmental impacts caused by different advanced recycling technologies of batteries have not been extensively discussed. This study conducts a process-based life cycle assessment for three typical direct recycling methods and a hydrometallurgical recycling method for the lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NCM) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Then, the potential of reducing the environmental burden through battery remanufacturing with recycled materials is investigated. The results show that the environmental burden of direct material recycling of NCM and LFP batteries is reduced by more than 10% and 30% compared with that of hydrometallurgy. Most environmental indicators of NCM are higher than those of LFP during the recycling process due to the difference auxiliary materials and recycled products. If only cathode materials and foils are recycled, the smallest environmental difference between NCM and LFP is only 1.6%. Compared with batteries manufactured with raw materials, the environmental impacts of NCM and LFP batteries remanufactured with recycled materials can be reduced by more than 20% and 32%. Moreover, the more battery materials obtained by the direct material recycling routes, the greater the environmental benefits through battery remanufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]