The reverse logistic challenge of transporting waste automotive lithium ion battery (LIB) packs is an escalating concern as the world-wide sale of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to rise. Under the European Union (EU) Battery Directive, EV manufacturers are classified as battery producers and are responsible for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste or damaged vehicle batteries. The European agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) stipulates that damaged or defective LIB packs must be transported in approved explosion proof steel containers. This necessitates costly testing in order to meet ADR requirements. Furthermore, the extra size and weight of this packaging adds further prohibitive expense to the transportation of damaged or defective LIB. In this study, cryogenically frozen cells are shown to be unable to release any energy even in extreme abuse conditions. This is demonstrated on two different cell chemistries and form factors. Experiments have shown that the possibility of thermal runaway is completely removed and therefore it is argued that LIBs may be transported safely whilst cryogenically frozen. Moreover, flash freezing is shown to have little effect on the electrical performance (energy capacity and impedance) even after five repetitive cryogenic cycles. Thus, facilitating the potential reuse and remanufacture of individual LIB cells from a complete damaged pack, prolonging the useful life, reducing the consumption of raw materials, and improving environmental sustainability of EV introduction.