Long-loop recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries is neither sustainable nor economical at scale. In the absence of design-to-recycle initiatives taken up by cell manufacturers, even for batteries produced today, all-in-one shredding processes are the only practical option to achieve circularity of critical materials. Shredding lithium-ion batteries ultimately produces ‘black mass’ – a low-value commodity comprising a mixture of graphite from the anode and lithium metal oxides from the cathode.