Could peel waste from oranges temper the demand for lithium-ion batteries used for the electrification of transport and hold the key to reducing food and electronic waste?

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore), have discovered a novel way to use fruit peel waste to extract valuable metals from used lithium-ion batteries and create recycled batteries with charging capacity ‘comparable’ to those found in the market.

Professor Madhavi Srinivasan, Co-Director of the NTU Singapore – CEA  Alliance for Research in Circular Economy and Assistant Professor of the NTU School of Materials Science and Engineering and School of Biological Sciences Dalton Tay, spoke to FNZ about their research that used orange peel waste to extract and reuse spent batteries.

They argue the key lies in a substance found in orange peel, which is converted into sugars under heating conditions and enhances the recovery of metals from battery waste.

Watch the full interview on our sister platform Future Net Zero