[ainarssems]

Originally Posted by pete-p

Not sure what the future will end up being but currently battery seems to be the focus, recycling these will be the key and making sure they can be.

The Tesla's latest 4680 structural battery packs are filled with foam, probably polyurethane. Really hard to dismantle and recycle by traditional means and to reuse bits of it and it would be very work intensive. Their idea for recycling is dip it in liquid nitrogen to cool down, stop chemical reactions and make it britlle, then put it in giant grinder to grind it it tiny pieces. Then use vibrating machine so that heavier particles go to bottom and lightest to the top, then separate and you get something similar to high quality mined ore.