Circular economy in the lithium-ion battery industry: state of the art in management literature

Scarce resources and pollution have increased interest in circular economy models also in the lithium-ion battery sector (LIB) (Gu et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2021). The industry (LIB) is growing and there is a need to manage the supply chain and sustainable use of these systems in the mobile consumer devices, industrial and domestic equipment, stationary energy storage systems, and electric mobility markets (Hanish et al., 2015; Tsiropoulos et al., 2018; Winslow et al., 2018; Martins et al., 2021; Chizaryfard et al., 2023). The current scientific production on LIBs seems to have a predominantly technical-engineering character focused on realisation, production and recycling. At the same time, there is no relevant research work on economic-managerial topics studying the topic of the circular economy in the LIB industry. By means of a bibliometric investigation, the literature on the circular economy in the LIB industry was deepened by extracting useful concepts to define managerial implications and possible future studies from a management perspective. Bibliometric analysis makes it possible to analyse the current state of the art (Mukherjee, 2022; Fan et al., 2022) and, through the application of quantitative techniques on bibliographic data (Donthu et al., 2021), provides useful insights, identifying theoretical and practical implications and capturing emerging trends. Through the query (( "batter*" ) and ("lithium-ion" or "li-ion") and ("recycl*" or "reus*" or "recover*" or "redesign*" or "regenerat*" or "remanufactur**" or "redefin*" or "repair*" or "reform*" or "refus*" or "rethink*" or "reduc*" or "reclaim*" or “reprocess*” or "circular economy" or "circularity" or "circular*")) data were extracted from Scopus for the definition of the dataset (limit categories: Business, Management and Accounting, English language, scientific articles and grey literature). After reading the selected papers (338), each individually, we eliminated those inconsistent with the work (15) obtaining a dataset of 323 contributions. Using Bibliometrics, through performance analysis we examined the evolution of productivity and the impact of research on the topic of investigation (Mukherjee, 2022). The scientific production is unevenly distributed between 2002 and 2016. An increasing trend is registered between 2016 and 2020. After a reduction in contributions in 2021, from 2022, an albeit minimal growth is recorded from 2023. Growth is expected for the current year, as productivity has exceeded that of the year 2023 by more than 50 percent. The discontinuous trend is also noted when calculating the average citations per year, with a maximum level found in 2018 (13.5) followed by a decreasing trend until 2023 (1.46). A further decrease is also likely to occur by 2024 since it stood at 0.004 as of the date of the analysis. The journal considered most relevant in terms of publications available is Journal of Cleaner Production (208 articles) followed by journals with smaller numbers of publications. The most productive author is Na N. with 20 articles published with discontinuity between 2002 and 2022. However, his articles have a very low number of citations per year. He is followed by Zhang Y. with 17 articles and a number of citations per year with values above 70 in 2018 and 100 in 2019, and Li J. with 10 articles between 2018 and 2024 and a good number of citations. Three Chinese universities are at the first places for research interest in circular economy in LIB industry; USA and Germany follow. The 10 most cited papers were published in Journal of Cleaner Production with citations ranging from over 180 to over 470. In the most cited article, Lipu et al. (2018) compare models for estimating the health and remaining life of LIBs. The results show that LIB recycling via hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical and direct recycling systems is relevant for market and sustainability objectives. Science mapping (Zupic, Čater, 2015), using VOSViewer, enabled the identification of 4 thematic clusters (with a total of 20 items of a managerial nature - Figure 1 - comments in table 1) after selecting keywords (149) that recur 5 times and using the thesaurus. Figure 1 - Output of co-occurrence analysis Source: our elaboration Table 1. Comments to the clusters Cluster type Items 1 RED – 7 items lithium-ion battery (main node), commerce, cost benefit analysis, decision making, economic and social effects, investments, technological development The keywords in this cluster are related because the decision-making process is based on the cost-benefit analysis, economic and social effects of investments for the technological development of LIB in a circular economy model. 2 GREEN - 6 items sustainable development (main node) circular economy, closed-loop supply chain, critical raw materials, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, The emerging theme concerns the implementation of circularity and closing the supply cycle through hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes to recover critical materials from lithium batteries, thus contributing to sustainable development. 3 BLU – 4 items recycling (main node), recovery, regeneration, spent lithium-ion battery The focus is on enhancing the circular economy through recycling, recovery and regeneration of materials extracted from spent lithium batteries with positive effects on the useful life and environmental impact of your disposal. 4 YELLOW – 3 items reuse (main node), remanufacturing, repurposing In this cluster circular economic process practices are emphasised by extending the life of products, maximising the use of available resources and reducing the consumption of natural resources. Source: our elaboration The findings highlight a prominent focus on technical-engineering aspects in the current literature regarding LIB markets. The lack of scientific research on management and business within this market is attributed to its dynamic nature, marked by significant recent changes. Battery production predominantly relies on virgin raw materials, with only recent attention given to themes of reuse and recycling, driven by environmental concerns and the expansion of electric vehicle and solar panels for buildings. The focus on reusing, recycling, and developing a circular economy for batteries primarily stems from corporate social responsibility and environmental concerns rather than cost considerations. Some countries enforce laws requiring a percentage of recycled materials in battery production. Despite this, research on business models, management, and marketing in these areas is still nascent. However, there's anticipation for increased interest due to emerging opportunities for companies to optimize processes, address relational challenges, and adapt to market dynamics. This suggests several implications (Table 2) for companies and practitioners to consider in the medium to long term. Table 2. Practical implications The role of relationships between companies in lifecycle management. Looking at the evolution of markets, complex contractual relationships among companies of different sizes will emerge in the entire process of managing the circular economy. Relationships will be shaped by evolving laws or, differently, by evolving batteries adoption. Strategic resource management choices. The evolving batteries markets is shaping global relations, supply chain management strategies and the dynamics of creation and transfer of economic and non-economic value in the procurement and processing and assembly of materials and components, even considering sustainability management and circular economy perspectives. Strategic B2B and B2C relationships. The circularity in the LIB market can derive from the company side, looking at the relationships and strategic agreement among companies within the LIB market from the raw material procurement till the production and application of the battery on devices. At the same time, the interest of consumers in adopting of different types of devices powered by batteries can be different and it can change looking at the multiple solutions on the market where the battery can be integrated to the device or, differently, it can be considered in the product-as-a-service solution. Source: our elaboration About the future research, we intend to deepen this study by triangulating the results through quantitative content analysis. One of the main limitations of this research is due to the composition of the dataset, which could be expanded by using additional databases to validate and extend our study.