3.2 Dismantling

Dismantling is an important pre-treatment step in many battery recycling processes, though the extent to which it is required not depends on the specific recycling approach. 

• It serves to reduce the overall size of the battery—from pack to module or cell level—and to remove components that do not contain the targeted active materials (i.e., anode and cathode materials). These include metal housings (often made of aluminum), the battery management system (BMS), and other peripheral parts.
• By sorting out such components early, they can be directed into dedicated recycling streams, while minimizing the number of different materials that enter the shredder. This is essential for impurity control and directly improves the quality of the resulting black mass.  

Dismantling processes can be manual, semi-automatic, or fully automated, depending on the battery design, condition, and recycling setup.

In contrast, cell production scrap—such as jelly rolls, cathode foils, or electrode offcuts—does not require deactivation or dismantling and can be fed directly into material separation. 

In general, the fewer mixed materials that are introduced into the shredding and separation processes, the cleaner and more efficient the Material Recovery will be.