

Note that this is not a catch with this recycling process (necessarily, anyway; the article doesn’t get into too many specifics) but rather an end-run to make lithium mining and refining appear less awful than it actually is.
Mining new lithium may be “cheaper” in raw dollars and cents provided only you don’t include the environmental impact or the costs of dealing with the same as a line item on the invoice.
Yes, I am aware of where this is posted and am prepared for my inevitable crucifixion as a result. But, like, is this really a problem that requires a self hosting solution? That seems like quite the overcomplication to me unless you absolutely require access to your entire selection on multiple devices that will have 24/7 network connections.
MP3’s take up negligible amounts of storage space on modern devices and can be played on anything, and can be easily taken with you anywhere including out of network range.
I guess teaching people how to drag-and-drop audio files onto their phone and open them with VLC would be a much shorter article.