<p>This study reports a pyrometallurgical route for recycling lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) based cathode materials via direct smelting at 1450&#xa0;°C using manganese-free flux systems. The results demonstrate that aluminum present in the cathode assembly effectively acts as an in-situ reducing agent, thereby eliminating the need for external reductants. Two flux compositions MnO₂-SiO₂-Al₂O₃ and SiO₂-Al₂O₃ were systematically evaluated. The SiO₂-Al₂O₃ flux system exhibited superior performance, yielding a cobalt-rich alloy containing 95.1 wt% Co and 3.2 wt% Ni, with only trace amounts of copper and iron. While MnO₂-SiO₂-Al₂O₃ flux system resulted in Mn incorporation into the recovered metal from the smelting process. Phase and compositional analyses using X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) confirmed the formation of Co-Ni alloy phases. Lithium and aluminum were preferentially partitioned into the slag phase, enabling clean metal-slag separation. The process achieved an overall metal recovery of approximately 100% and 99.65% for with and without MnO₂ containing flux, respectively. The Co recovery without pre-treatment steps such as roasting or decoking, offered a simplified and economically viable approach for LCO battery recycling. This work contributes to sustainable material cycle management by demonstrating an efficient pathway for the recovery of cobalt-rich alloys from spent lithium-ion batteries.</p>