Among the few studies that directly compare environmental impacts of circular and conventional NCA refinement using industrial-scale operational data, 35% lower greenhouse gas emissions (Fig. ) are reported for Me+Hy circular refinement compared with the current study . However, direct comparison can be inexact due to varying underlying assumptions and data sources. For example, Argonne National Laboratory's GREET and EverBatt models leverage a combination of technology descriptions from patent applications (the most recent from 2007), literature data on process flow consumptions, industry site visits and surveys, expert advice solicitation, and stated assumptions to form complete pathways. Further, Ciez and Whitacre quantified environmental impacts using output products represented as "metal offsets" for pyrometallurgy or with metals in solution for hydrometallurgy (Note 3 in Supplementary Information), rather than cathode salts in this study. In addition, the previous studies included a portion of recycled metal materials in its conventional supply chain analysis, whereas this work references only mined natural deposits in conventional supply chains to fully deconvolute the environmental impacts . The different conclusions highlight divergent life cycle assessment approaches, processing conditions, and the utility of primary industrial data access over modeling processes from literature sources.