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Green pollution: UK must act immediately to prevent a huge waste management problem caused by electric car batteries
by Virgilio Marin

Natural News) Electric vehicles are poised to create a massive waste management problem in the future without early intervention to reduce waste from electric vehicle batteries, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

In a review of current battery recycling efforts, a team led by the University of Birmingham researchers reported that the British government and the industry need to act now to meet future recycling needs. The researchers noted that while electric vehicles offer a solution for cutting air pollution, the lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) used to power these cars pose a massive waste problem.

As such, the researchers underscored the importance of developing a robust recycling infrastructure to prevent mountains of battery waste in the future.

Challenges in recycling electric vehicle batteries

The problem posed by LIB waste is already significant and is set to grow as demand for electric vehicles rises. Based on the one million electric cars sold in 2017, the researchers estimated that 250,000 tons of unprocessed LIB waste will be produced when these vehicles reach the “end of their lives.”

“Electrification of just two percent of the current global car fleet would represent a line of cars that could stretch around the circumference of the Earth – some 140 million vehicles,” said co-author Andrew Abbott of the University of Leicester.

Abbott added that landfills will not be enough to properly dispose of LIB waste. The most viable solution is to recycle the batteries. This, according to Abbot, may also serve as a sustainable resource for valuable materials such as cobalt, lithium and manganese.

Continues:

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-04-06-green-pollution-electric-car-batteries-waste-problem.html

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