science

Yes, but this published finding is interesting because it reduces the steps.

Anyone can extract the elemental lithium from lithium cells, but it takes a lot of energy and harsh solvents and creates a lot of waste byproducts.

But extracting lithium iron phosphate (LFP) salts is much less energy intensive, if those salts can be reused. This paper shows that LFP can be extracted and then reused as an ingredient in creating LMFP, a cathode material with higher performance characteristics.

This is akin to using a technique to filter water instead of cracking it into hydrogen and oxygen and reconstituting the elements back as water.