Researchers have developed a method of recycling nearly 50 % of the lithium in the millions of batteries that are discarded every year . Ataur Rahman , from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the International Islamic University Malaysia , and Rafia Afroz , of the Department of Chemistry , created a hydrometallurgical method to extract nearly 50 % of lithium and nearly 25 % of cobalt from scrap batteries . The team's hydrometallurgical method can recover both cobalt and lithium in their laboratory-scale tests from standard 48.8 Wh lithium batteries. The pair baked the batteries at a high temperature before treating them with strong acids such as hydrogen peroxide . The recycled materials can be reused in new batteries , with the remaining liquid waste being treated for safe disposal .
Researchers have developed a method of recycling nearly 50 % of the lithium in the millions of batteries that are discarded every year . Ataur Rahman , from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the International Islamic University Malaysia , and Rafia Afroz , of the Department of Chemistry , created a hydrometallurgical method to extract nearly 50 % of lithium and nearly 25 % of cobalt from scrap batteries . The pair baked the batteries at a high temperature before treating them with strong acids such as hydrogen peroxide . The recycled materials can be reused in new batteries , with the remaining liquid waste being treated for safe disposal .