Abstract: A process of physical separation of spent lithium ion batteries to recover valuable components by using vacuum treatment to separate and recover volatile matter such as electrode binder, electrolyte solvent and salt followed by crushing and comminution to disintegrate and shred the electrolyte-depleted battery pack and reduce the size of shredded particles of enclosed components such as casing, current collectors, separator and other materials, which are subsequently separated using a series of physical separation techniques.