Cathode materials and their precursors are prepared with transition metal solutions recycled from the the waste lithium-ion batteries containing NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) cathodes by a H₂ and C-reduction process. The recycled transition metal sulfate solutions are used in a co-precipitation process in a CSTR reactor to obtain the transition metal hydroxide. The NCM cathode materials (Ni:Mn:Co=5:3:2) are prepared from the transition metal hydroxide by calcining with lithium carbonate. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses show that the cathode material has a layered structure and particle size of about 10 μm. The cathode materials also exhibited a capacity of about 160 mAh/g with a retention rate of 93~96% after 100 cycles.