[Abstract]

Electrochemical extraction offers a promising alternative to conventional hydrometallurgy for lithium recovery from spent batteries, yet its environmental performance remains underexplored. This study presents the first life cycle  assessment  (LCA)  of  electrochemical  lithium  extraction  from  battery  leachates  at  laboratory  scale, comparing lithium manganese oxide (LMO) and lithium nickel manganese oxide (LNMO) electrode systems. The LNMO system reduced carbon emission by 53% compared to LMO system (33.1 vs 68.0 kg CO₂-eq/kg Li₂CO₃), with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent identified as the primary environmental hotspot across both elec- trode systems. Scenario analysis of six alternative process designs demonstrated that NMP-related optimization strategies achieved carbon emission reductions of 28–43%. Under industrial-scale assumptions with combined implementation, the optimized electrochemical extraction process exhibited competitive environmental per- formance relative to conventional spodumene-based lithium carbonate production. These findings redirect research priorities from energy optimization toward material efficiency and demonstrate the role of early-stage LCA in guiding sustainable battery recycling.