The goal of this study is to employ relevant characterization techniques as a guide to develop efficient recycling process flows that maximize the recovery of all valuables in BM. The effects of pre-treatment methods (such as milling/sieving and pyrolysis) on the physicochemical properties of BM feed. These insights will help refine recycling strategies and enhance material recovery of valuables. It is reported that the leaching efficiency of metals (Li and NMC) is enhanced by decreasing particle sizes (enhanced specific surface area) of the BM, however, the drawback is that smaller particles are more susceptible to entrainment during froth flotation process resulting in movement of NMC CAM particles to froth. Our results show that it is possible to overcome this challenge by sieving BM into different size fractions, while at the same time taking care of the metallic impurities (Al and Cu). As can be seen from Fig. , by sieving BM into different size fractions, the coarsest size fraction (i.e., +150 µm) comprises only 5 -10 wt. % by weight and can be treated separately since it contains Al and Cu impurities. The smallest size fraction can be subjected to a leaching process to recover metals and the mid-size fractions can be used in the flotation process to recover graphite. Another prominent aspect of this investigation is the development of a method (Fig. ) that correlates the chord length of BM particles measured using the FBRM technique to the actual particle size allowing real-time measurements of downstream processing e.g., optimization of the collector dosage during flotation of graphite from BM. Graphite recovery from BM using froth flotation before using other hydrometallurgical unit operations (such as acid leaching) can be techno-economically more efficient since the removal of graphite from BM increases the relative concentration of valuable metals and decreases the amount of leaching reagents required. Further, certain leaching reagents can also damage the crystal structure of graphite by exfoliating its layers and oxidizing the surface, thus making subsequent graphite recovery challenging. Hence, it is essential to have robust characterization to analyze changes in graphite structure and quantify the damage. Our previous work has shown that XRD can also be used to quantify the 2H and 3R crystalline phases of graphite. Another complementary technique to characterize graphite is Raman spectroscopy which, compared to XRD, is highly surface sensitive. It is reported that Raman spectroscopy can be used to characterize surface defects caused by surface depositions and structural disorders. In this study, Fig. and Table show that the ID/IG ratio is a good indication of graphite structural order and surface depositions. As discussed above, graphite quality is important for recovery processes downstream. Likewise, quantifying graphite content in BM is also crucial for effectively planning the choice of recycling strategies. The graphite quantification method developed in Fig. can be used as a starting point to optimize the recycling strategy and determine what route would work best for a specific BM feed.