NovaEnergia

lithium battery recycling process:
toxco’s lithium battery recycling facility is located on 11 acres adjacent to the columbia river near picturesque trail in southern british columbia. with over 70,000 manufacturing square feet, toxco trail was the company’s first recycling facility. the facility inventories incoming lithium battery waste. the waste is then stored in earth covered concrete storage bunkers. residual electrical energy is removed from larger, more reactive batteries. if necessary the batteries then begin toxco’s patented cryogenic process and are cooled to -325°f. lithium, although normally explosively reactive at room temperature, is rendered relatively inert at this temperature. the batteries are then safely sheared/shredded and the materials are separated. metals from the batteries are collected and sold. the lithium components are separated and converted to lithium carbonate for resale. hazardous electrolytes are neutralized to form stable compounds and residual plastic casings and miscellaneous components are recovered for appropriate recycling or scrapping. if the batteries contain cobalt this is also recovered for reuse.

alkaline battery recycling:
the batteries are shredded and case metals are separated using conventional techniques. manganese and zinc remaining in the process effluent are collected, filtered, and sold.

prismatic battery recycling (non lithium):
non-reactive batteries made up of flat anode/cathode plates are broken open to expose recyclable materials. lead, nickel, silver, cadmium, plastic, metal, and other materials are separated and sold. electrolyte is drained and neutralized.

safety
toxco’s patented processes are safe and reliable. all processes were developed with safety as the utmost concern. as an example, due to the extreme reactivity of the older, large primary lithium batteries cryogenics were implemented as a means to safeguard personnel and equipment. laws of physics dictate that chemical reactions are slowed drastically at cryogenic temperatures thus toxco’s large primary lithium battery processes are inherently safe since the batteries are frozen to –325°f prior to processing. also exemplifying toxco’s safety stewardship: 95% of the processing for reactive metal and batteries is performed using remotely operated techniques. this keeps our employees at safe distances from any hazardous activity.

keep in mind that we have only done a few trial runs with our modules. we’re hoping that we won’t need to recycle our modules for many years to come. however, we believe it is important, before we start shipping cars, to understand and plan for the eventual disposal of these vehicles.

a nissan e a japonesa sumitomo vão estabelecer uma joint-venture para reciclar baterias de iões de lítio aplicadas aos automóveis. esta inciativa poderá no futuro permitir a produção de baterias para veículos eléctricos mais baratas.

segundo toshiyuki shiga, director da nissan, isto poderá ter como consequência a comercialização de veículos eléctricos mais baratos, tendo em conta a revenda e o reaproveitamento que será dado às baterias neles presentes.

por seu lado, kazuo ohmori, vice-presidente executivo da sumimoto, explica que “por enquanto, iremos desenvolver este negócio apenas com a nissan”, a qual mantém a sua calendarização de introduzir no mercado em 2010 o modelo leaf e agora foi anunciado também uma versão de uma veículo comercial eléctrico.

segundo hideaki watanabe, presidente da nissan, as baterias de iões de lítio ainda tem 70 a 80% da sua capacidade apesar da sua longevidade média ser superior a 10 anos.