Life cycle assessment of recycling delithiated β spodumene as a raw material in the built environment

The demand for lithium is continuously rising as it is a key element in the construction of greener future energy storage systems. However, large amounts of delithiated β spodumene (DβS) are generated during the lithium extraction process from spodumene, which raises environmental concerns. Concurrently, the acquisition of raw materials for concrete production contributes significantly to CO₂ emissions and the generation of other pollutants, highlighting the opportunity to integrate DβS into sustainable concrete production. In this study, we consider DβS recycling as a cement or fine aggregate replacement material. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to evaluate the environmental impact of Australian averaged standard strength concrete production and DβS recycling technologies, assessing various replacement scenarios involving cement (10%, 20%, and 25%) or sand (30% and 50%) with DβS. The results indicate that replacing cement with DβS comprehensively reduces the environmental footprint of concrete production. However, sand replacement is not recommended due to higher environmental burdens. The application of the rail shipping method for DβS recycling would increase the environmental impacts of concrete production compared with the coastal method. In addition, the evaluation of the Australian average transport distance can reflect the Australian condition with negligible error compared with localized conditions. Furthermore, the greenhouse gas emission reduction by replacing cement with DβS is satisfactory and comparable to that observed with other mineral processing by-products.