The management and recycling of waste which contains critical metals has become a high priority. Improper management of this waste leads to adverse effects for both the environment and human health. An equally important driver is the rapidly growing demand to recycle critical metals from waste to reduce environmental impacts and transition to zero-carbon technologies. The aim of the paper is to provide knowledge about waste containing lithium and zinc and the pros and cons of different treatment and recovery methods to policymakers, industrialists, researchers, and students. To that end, we identify sources of lithium- and zinc-based waste and compare and discuss the benefits and challenges of treatment and recovery procedures including pyrometallurgy, bioleaching and acid-leaching. We also explore the socio-economic aspects of lithium and zinc metals and environmental impacts of wastes containing these metals. Finally, we provide a summary of literature containing life-cycle analysis (LCA) studies for the recovery of lithium and zinc from waste sources.