http://www.sciencedaily....2014/09/140929094039.htm
Summary: Present-day lithium batteries are efficient but involve a range of resource and environmental problems. Using materials from alfalfa (lucerne seed) and pine resin and a clever recycling strategy, researchers have now come up with a highly interesting alternative.

Abstract:
A simple and straightforward method using non-polluting solvents and a single thermal treatment step at moderate temperature was investigated as an environmentally-friendly process to recycle lithium from organic electrode materials for secondary lithium batteries. This method, highly dependent on the choice of electrolyte, gives up to 99 % of sustained capacity for the recycled materials used in a second life-cycle battery when compared with the original. The best results were obtained using a dimethyl carbonate/lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl) imide electrolyte that does not decompose in presence of water. The process implies a thermal decomposition step at a moderate temperature of the extracted organic material into lithium carbonate, which is then used as a lithiation agent for the preparation of fresh electrode material without loss of lithium.

Thank you for posting that.
Environmentally-Friendly Lithium Recycling From a Spent Organic Li-Ion Battery.

Very cool. Storage is a key to solar power and advances in keeping environmental and other costs down is a great thing to hear. I like to keep myself posted on the storage frontier, but hadn't seen this, thanks for that, Cave Paintings.

One emerging technology I was reading about was, liquid electrode cells.