This article discusses a recycling process that is specially dedicated to portable lithium-ion batteries that combines a mechanical pretreatment with hydro- and pyrometallurgical process steps. The recovery of cobalt and of all other battery components, especially lithium, was of interest. Besides the characterisation and evaluation of all generated metallic material fractions, the focus of the research was the development of a pyrometallurgical process step in an electric arc furnace for the carbo-reductive melting of the fine fraction extracted from spent lithium-ion batteries.