The race to secure critical battery materials is heating up, and a breakthrough from Estonia could redefine how the energy sector recycles lithium-ion batteries. Researchers at the National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics in Tallinn have developed a method to recover lithium more efficiently from spent batteries using a surprising ingredient: table sugar.
Martin Jantson, lead author of the study published in *Recycling*, explains that traditional recycling methods have long prioritized nickel and cobalt recovery, often leaving lithium behind due to technical and economic hurdles. “We needed a way to selectively extract lithium while keeping the process cost-effective and scalable,” he says. The team turned to sucrose—a food-grade sugar—to act as a reductant in a process called reductive roasting, where battery materials are heated in the presence of sucrose to break down their chemical structure.
The results were striking. Under optimal conditions—600°C for just 15 minutes—the method achieved lithium leaching efficiencies of over 90% for pure cathode materials and around 88% for mixed battery waste (known as “black mass”). Even for NCA-type batteries (another common lithium-ion chemistry), the recovery rate reached 83.7%. “The beauty of this process is its speed and simplicity,” Jantson notes. “Unlike traditional methods that require harsh chemicals or long processing times, this approach is rapid and uses a readily available, non-toxic additive.”
The key to success lay in controlling the reduction of transition metals. Cobalt was fully reduced to its metallic state, while nickel and manganese had to be partially reduced for maximum lithium release. However, the team found that over-roasting—holding the material at high temperatures for too long—actually hindered lithium recovery by forming insoluble lithium compounds like LiF and Li₃PO₄. “Timing is everything,” Jantson adds. “Too much heat for too long locks lithium away, making it harder to extract.”
This innovation could have significant commercial implications, particularly as the EU tightens its Batteries Regulation, mandating 80% lithium recovery by 2031. Current methods struggle to meet this target efficiently, often leaving lithium unrecovered in waste streams. By contrast, sucrose-assisted roasting offers a pathway to higher yields with lower energy and chemical inputs. For industries grappling with the dual challenges of resource scarcity and waste management, this method presents a scalable solution—one that could reduce reliance on virgin lithium mining while making battery recycling more economically viable.
The research also highlights a broader shift in the industry: moving beyond cobalt-centric recycling to embrace full-value recovery. As battery chemistries diversify and lithium demand surges, methods like this one could become indispensable. The next step, Jantson suggests, is refining the process for industrial-scale applications—proving that a spoonful of sugar really can help the lithium industry go round.
Published in *Recycling* (the Estonian-language journal *Taaskasutus*).