With the rapid development of electric vehicles, energy storage and other industries, the demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has maintained rapid growth. At the same time, the production of spent LIBs has increased sharply, and its clean and efficient recycling has become a major problem that needs to be solved urgently at home and abroad. LIBs cathode materials are mainly LiCoO2 (LCO), Li(NiCoMn)O2 (NCM), LiMn2O4 (LMO), Li(NiCoAl)O2 (NCA), LiFePO4 (LFP), and lithium-rich manganese based oxides (LLO). For the spent transition metal LIBs, roasting-priority lithium extraction process has become the key technology of spent transition metal LIBs recovery because it can preferentially recover lithium in the leaching stage, avoid the loss of lithium caused by multi-step separation, reduce the use of acid base and other reagents in the leaching stage, and the transition metal is reduced for its acid leaching. In order to improve the roasting effect and increase the leaching rate of water extraction of lithium and transition metal elements, scholars at home and abroad have tried to use a variety of materials for roasting, and developed their own unique roasting processes. This review summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the existing treatment technology, and looks forward to the development direction of spent LIBs recycling technology, which provides a certain reference for the green and low-carbon recycling of spent LIBs.