Nobody recycles batteries for the lithium. A small amount get recycled for cobalt That will change as the price of lithium rises, of course as that happens we are back to economics..
And yet, the total batteries are being recycled as we speak here in America.
Here is more.
Which is why we don't have enough to supply our need.
Sadly, again, you have no real knowledge of science, or what is going on. You took something from several years ago, which is predicated on PROVED RESERVOIRS that want to be acknowledged. Yet, it is wrong.
Now, go look up Simbol Mining Corp. Simbol is going to feed Tesla, which is working on a factory that will MORE THAN DOUBLE CURRENT LITHIUM ION PRODUCTION. Now, that is just 1 company that will be providing all this.
In addition, for the future Here is more.
You just have to read a bit, rather than as little as possible. In addition, stay up on your science.
Finally, as to being cheap/economical, it is regularly about scale, not about process. Bolivia and Chile are pushed by Europe to be dirty, but, Tesla will be looking for more than what Bolivia, Chile, China, and Australia put out together, THIS YEAR. And considering that it will come from America (and Canada), that will increase the scale.
Finally, as Tesla gears up, Simbol's will also expand outwards to other geothermal units.
There's actually a lot of cross-pollination going in between the 2 platforms. For some things it's easier to release first on the desktop at WWDC and let the devs play with it a year or 2 before it ends up on iOS. Look at the new Force Touch thing they're rolling out. Apple Watch -> MacBook -> iPhones/iPads last.
Then you have things like Continuity in Yosemite that tightly binds a Mac and iPhone, that increases sales of both and prevents commoditization.
Besides, in a few years phones will be at the "good enough" phase like desktops are and people won't be upgrading every 2 years, so the current huge growth of mobiles can't be their only source of income when they start slowing down.
The flow chart is a most thoroughly oversold piece of program documentation. -- Frederick Brooks, "The Mythical Man Month"