There's already a commodities market for "black mass", namely crushed battery cells from which lithium, nickel, cobalt, and other materials can be recycled and reused to make new cells.

Which in turn lowers the need to mine for new material, reduces the amount of refining needed to produce new cells, and overall lowers the cost and carbon footprint.

Unlike that crude stuff which is extracted, pumped, refined, and then burned... once.