The increasing demand for lithiumLithium-ion batteriesBattery, especially in electrical vehicles, highlights the need for efficient and green recyclingRecycling processes for the recoveryRecovery of critical raw materialsRaw materials like lithiumLithium. Traditional late-stage lithiumLithium (LSL) recyclingRecycling faces challenges, including material losses and complex recoveryRecovery processes. Early-stage lithiumLithium (ESL) recoveryRecovery offers a promising approach to enhance recyclingRecycling efficiency and producing a product with reduced losses. This study investigates a hydrometallurgical approach for the early-stage lithium recoveryEarly-stage lithium recovery with oxalic acidOxalic acid from black mass derived from spent NMCNMC 622 batteriesBattery. The focus is on optimizing lithium recoveryLithium recovery while minimizing the co-leachingLeaching of transition metals. The process achieved over 80% lithium recoveryLithium recovery at room temperature in lab-scale experiments and 76.06% in a 2.5L upscaling leachingLeaching experiment, demonstrating the potential of ESL from end-of-life NMCNMC cells with oxalic acidOxalic acid as a sustainable recyclingRecycling solution for lithiumLithium recyclingRecycling.