Transforming Waste into Power: Toyota Chemical Engineering Pursues a Carbon-Free Future Through Garbage Incineration Technology
In an effort to establish a sustainable future, Toyota is developing and verifying low-emission disposal methods for batteries, with the ultimate goal of achieving carbon neutrality and promoting a circular economy. This innovative approach to battery recycling, developed in collaboration with Toyota Chemical Engineering, focuses on recovering valuable resources from spent batteries without the need for incineration.
The process begins by extracting the fluid from spent batteries, followed by shredding and sorting the cells to recover large pieces containing aluminum and iron, as well as a powder called "black mass" that contains rare metals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel. These sorted pieces and powders are then transported to cooperating companies and processed into materials for new batteries.
Avoiding incineration, a process that releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants, is a key aspect of this technology. By doing so, Toyota's approach supports carbon neutrality by lowering greenhouse gas emissions linked to battery disposal. Simultaneously, it fosters a circular economy by recovering usable battery components or raw materials, allowing them to be reintegrated into new battery manufacturing, reducing waste, and conserving finite mineral resources essential for lithium-ion batteries.
This technology aligns with broader industry moves towards innovative, less energy-intensive recycling processes that maintain high material recovery rates and reduce environmental footprints. Examples include Toyota's capacity-recovery techniques that revive lithium-ion batteries without dismantling and processes that extract active lithium at room temperature. These advances collectively help reduce reliance on mining and lower the carbon footprint of EV battery supply chains, essential for sustainable electrification efforts.
While the exact technical details of Toyota Chemical Engineering's no-incineration recycling method are not fully detailed in the current documents, the strategy clearly emphasizes the avoidance of CO2 emissions from incineration, resource recovery and reuse to enable circular material flows, and supporting electrification and EV production with sustainable battery supply chains.
Toyota's commitment to environmental sustainability is further demonstrated by its car subscription service, KINTO, which offers opportunities for guaranteed recovery and recycling of parts and materials, as well as ongoing contact with customers for delivering new value. In Europe, regulations requiring battery manufacturers to use a fixed ratio of rare metals recovered from spent batteries will take effect in 2031.
Countries worldwide are promoting recycling to recover rare metals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel from spent batteries. Toyota Chemical Engineering has been collecting and recycling spent batteries from Toyota Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) in Japan since 2010. The picture shows nickel metal hydride battery (NiMH), lithium-ion battery used in hybrid cars, and lithium-ion battery from a bZ4X.
Otsuka, a CSO at Toyota, emphasized that being environmentally conscious does not mean imposing limits, and new challenges should not be avoided due to cost concerns. This battery recycling method reduces CO2 emissions and improves recovery rates, making it a crucial step towards Toyota's dream of creating a circular economy, turning garbage into resources without emitting carbon.
- The no-incineration battery recycling method, developed by Toyota and Toyota Chemical Engineering, is centered around science, as it focuses on extracting valuable resources from spent batteries, particularly rare metals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel, through environmental-science processes with the aim of promoting technological innovation in a circular economy.
- By avoiding incineration and prioritizing the recovery and reuse of usable battery components and raw materials, Toyota's environmental-science approach to battery recycling helps lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduces waste, and conserves finite mineral resources essential for lithium-ion batteries, thereby emphasizing the critical role of science and technology in achieving carbon neutrality and sustainable electrification efforts.
