Recycling chains for lithium-ion batteries: A critical examination of current challenges, opportunities and process dependencies.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) show high energy densities and are therefore used in a wide range of applications: from portable electronics to stationary energy storage systems and traction batteries used for e-mobility. Considering the projected increase in global demand for this energy storage technology, driven primarily by growth in e-vehicles, and looking at the criticality of some raw materials used in LIBs, the need for an efficient recycling strategy emerges. In this study, current state-of-the-art technologies for LIB recycling are reviewed and future opportunities and challenges, in particular to recover critical raw materials such as lithium or cobalt, are derived.

Efficiency and Carbon Footprint of the German Meat Supply Chain.

Meat production and consumption contribute significantly to environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These emissions can be reduced via various strategies ranging from production efficiency improvement to process optimization, food waste reduction, trade pattern change, and diet structure change. On the basis of a material flow analysis approach, we mapped the dry matter mass and energy balance of the meat (including beef, pork, and poultry) supply chain in Germany and discussed the emission reduction potential of different mitigation strategies in an integrated and mass-balance consistent framework.

Environmental impacts of food waste in Europe.

Approximately 88 Million tonnes (Mt) of food is wasted in the European Union each year and the environmental impacts of these losses throughout the food supply chain are widely recognised. This study illustrates the impacts of food waste in relation to the total food utilised, including the impact from food waste management based on available data at the European level. The impacts are calculated for the Global Warming Potential, the Acidification Potential and the Eutrophication Potential using a bottom-up approach using more than 134 existing LCA studies on nine representative products (apple, tomato, potato, bread, milk, beef, pork, chicken, white fish).