Life Cycle and Sustainability

The increase in lithium batteries' (LIBs) demand implies a growing consumption of raw materials. Taking into account this rapid growth, it is necessary, from now on, to think about “life cycle” and sustainability in order to preserve and to sustain our natural resources. Based on a literature review, this chapter presents at first the life cycle assessment methodology applied to LIBs. Especially the key points of the analyzed studies will be emphasized here and some improvements will be proposed. The end-of-life stage is analyzed then and a short summary of existing recycling methods is given. Finally, it will be emphasized that the environmental impact assessment of future LIBs should be done by integrating the entire battery life cycle from resources extraction up to recycling.