A critical component of the drive to deliver net zero economies is the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs), which necessitates a need for the development of efficient ways to recycle EV Li-ion batteries at the end of their usable life. The need for recycling is highlighted by recent EU regulations on recovery targets for key cathode elements and mandatory minimum levels of recycled content for such batteries. Nevertheless, recycling is challenging, particularly if the feedstock contains a mixture of cathode materials, which leads to a requirement for complex multistep, high waste, separation processes. Here, we show that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can selectively leach a Mn-rich cathode from a Ni-rich cathode, simplifying the recycling process and allowing more direct recycling approaches to subsequently be used. The approach is applicable for dealing with multiple cathode mixtures, even allowing for the separation of Na- and Li-ion cathodes.