Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in many fields because of the advantages of high energy density, excellent cycling performance, and low self-discharge rate. Nevertheless, the specific capacity of lithium-ion batteries cannot satisfy the practical demands further after being employed for 3 to 5 years due to the decomposition of liquid electrolytes, which can lead to a large number of spent lithium-ion batteries undoubtedly. Therefore, recycling and utilizing of spent lithium-ion batteries reasonably can not only economize the resource, but also alleviate the environmental pollution. This paper summarizes the processing steps of spent lithium-ion batteries during the recycling process, which mainly consists of the pretreatment of ternary cathode materials, the leaching and separation of valuable metal ions and the regeneration of ternary cathode materials as well as comparing the advantages and disadvantages of various methods. On that basis, it is reasonable to move in a safe, environmental and efficient direction to recycle and utilize of ternary cathode materials in spent lithium-ion batteries.