LRP-Based Design of Sustainable Recycling Network for Electric Vehicle Batteries
, Xumei Zhang 1,2, Zhaohui Feng 1, Yan Wang 3, Baosheng Ying 1 and Hua Zhang 4Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Point 1: The instruction section should be further developed. Authors should let readers know why their work is important and what problem they solve. And the introduction of recycling is poor. These papers may be helpful. Neumann, J., Petranikova, M., Meeus, M., Gamarra, J. D., Younesi, R., Winter, M., Nowak, S., Recycling of Lithium-Ion Batteries—Current State of the Art, Circular Economy, and Next Generation Recycling. Adv. Energy Mater. 2022, 2102917. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202102917 Ma, Xiaotu, et al. "Recycled cathode materials enabled superior performance for lithium-ion batteries." Joule 5.11 (2021): 2955-2970.
Response 1: The introduction section has been revised. It adds some background related to electric vehicles, improves the content of three battery disposal strategies, and illustrates the negative impact of improper battery disposal on the environment. Thank you for the information.
Point 2: In recent paper, Ma, Xiaotu, et al. "Recycled cathode materials enabled superior performance for lithium-ion batteries." Joule 5.11 (2021): 2955-2970., they stated that their method can recycle all spent batteries without determination of SOC. So all spent batteries could go to the waste disposal center directly. If so, could the profit of remanufacturing cover the extra transportation cost to the remanufacturing centers and detecting and coverting cost for repurpose?
Response 2: I think so. When there is no need to determinate the SOC, the EVB processing center can be eliminated. It simplifies the recycling network, reduces logistics costs, and reduces the costs associated with the EVB processing center. This is a direction I will continue to research. However, at present the technology is not widespread and battery recycling process still requires testing.
Point 3: Why could T1 cells enter recycling process? The remain capacity more than 80% normally won’t be disposed.
Response 3: A battery pack is made up of individual cells. Its capacity is in accordance with the "barrel principle", the capacity of the worst cell determines the capacity of the whole battery pack. So there will be some T1 cells in the EoL battery.
Point 4: Is safety considered in the transportation process? Li-ion battery is dangerous during transport. Some special safety equipment may be employeed in the truck. Does this part need to be considered?
Response 4: Batteries are dangerous goods. When transporting and storing, it should be packed in professional outer packaging according to national regulations. The costs of this part are included in the unit transportation costs and in the operating costs of the center. This is explained in the line 362-364.
Point 5: Please define what is your total cost? Is it including recycling process? Or only transportation expense and remanufacturing process expense?
Response 5: The total costs include the cost of building the center, the cost of operating the center, and the cost of transportation. Operating costs refer to the cost of employing staff, equipment use and maintenance, utilities, etc. to keep the center running properly. It is cleared in lines 245-247. The cost of recycling batteries from consumers is not included in this paper.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Well structured paper. The method is clearly explained. The method will be very helpful to solve the real recycling networking problems in the future. Although the paper focus on process, if the paper is published on sustainability, it would have more exposure to the interested readers.
I have attached the file with my comments and questions for your editing consideration.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
第1点：关于论文ä¸æ ‡è®°çš„è¯è¨€çš„问题。
Response 1: The parts marked in the text have been modified accordingly as suggested, as shown in the revised manuscript.
Point 2: For figure 2, why adding vehicle could reduce cost?
Response 2: When planning a route, a low number of vehicles may result in a circuitous route, which can also increase transportation costs. The purpose of increasing the number of vehicles is to ensure that the optimal solution is found under this combination.
Point 3: Is material cost (buy EoL battery) part of the operating cost? This should be clear stated.
Response 3: Operating costs refer to the cost of employing staff, equipment use and maintenance, utilities, etc. to keep the center running properly. It is cleared in lines 245-247. The cost of recycling batteries from consumers is not included in this paper.
Point 4: What is appropriate vehicle from your study? or what attributes of a vehicle make it appropriate?
Response 4: The purchase of transport vehicles is a significant expense. It is most economical only when the actual capacity of the vehicle is close to the rated capacity. This point is also considered in general route planning. Therefore, transport vehicles should be equipped according to the projected recycling volume in the region to avoid wasting resources due to high empty load rates. It is cleared in lines 434-438.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors have presented an interesting work that is in line with the Goals for Sustainable Development and that is currently state-of-the-art. However, some corrections need to be made before final recommendation for publication. In general, the work is reduced to a case study and the strong and innovative point of the research, which is the development of the algorithm, is not well promoted.
Try not to include abbreviations without previously having been defined
Line 40, 179 and others correct CO2 subindex
Line 43 change 5 by five
The introduction in general is somewhat scarce, it must be extended as well as the state of the art. The objectives of the work should be better highlighted.
Line 172 be careful with the spacing
What criteria have been followed to choose the assumptions set out in section 3.1, it is convenient to explain this point better.
Point 4 should be called results
It is a theoretical article, in which a model is made and validated by means of an example, but would this be applicable in real dynamic cases? Are traditional localization methods taken into account?
In addition, I do not understand why this Journal has been chosen, since there are other more appropriate ones such as Logistics
The conclusions are few and should be expanded
The bibliography is not in format
Author Response
Point 1: Try not to include abbreviations without previously having been defined.
Response 1: ‘GEM’ and ‘LRP’ have been explained in the paper.
Point 2: Line 40, 179 and others correct CO2 subindex
Response 2: It has been corrected.
Point 3: Line 43 change 5 by five
Response 3: It has been corrected.
Point 4: The introduction in general is somewhat scarce, it must be extended as well as the state of the art. The objectives of the work should be better highlighted.
Response 4: The introduction section has been revised. It adds some background related to electric vehicles, improves the content of three battery disposal strategies, and illustrates the negative impact of improper battery disposal on the environment. Thank you for the information.
Point 5: What criteria have been followed to choose the assumptions set out in section 3.1, it is convenient to explain this point better.
Response 5: In this paper, assumptions are made based on the traditional location routing problem (LRP). The battery recycling network studied in this paper is consistent with the LRP problem.
Point 6: Point 4 should be called results
Response 6: It has been corrected.
Point 7: It is a theoretical article, in which a model is made and validated by means of an example, but would this be applicable in real dynamic cases? Are traditional localization methods taken into account?
Response 7: This paper provides a method for building a battery recycling network. The parameters will be different in different cases of application, but the method is available. For the dynamic changes in battery recycling is the direction I will continue to study.
Point 8: In addition, I do not understand why this Journal has been chosen, since there are other more appropriate ones such as Logistics.
Response 8: Battery recycling network design is an essential part of battery remanufacturing. And carbon emissions are considered in the network design, which is a sustainable logistics optimization. I think it is eligible for the call for papers for this special issue..
Point 9: The conclusions are few and should be expanded.
Response 9: The conclusions have been expanded. Each suggestion has been improved.
Point 10: The bibliography is not in format.
Response 10: It has been corrected.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
