What’s next for raw materials and recycling?

23 May 2024

Introduction and Presentation

Wouter IJzermans, BEPA Executive Director talked about the scope of BEPA, he underlined how the Partnership is not funding the raw materials extraction but it covers all the other aspects of the value chain from the processing of battery grade materials to the production of advanced materials. “Through recycling we are trying to close the loop by bringing the materials that are in the batteries back into the value chain.”

BEPA Policy Officer Bozorg Khanbaei explained the strategic actions for raw materials and recycling as stated in the newest Strategic Research Innovation Agenda (SRIA). Among the main strategic actions, we should underline processing and refining of battery grade raw materials for lithium batteries for the mobility sector. “We need new solutions and technologies that help with the carbon footprint, we need diversification of material to securing the supply chain. Also, we need to make sure that projects find their way to the industry and for instance equip the sodium battery value chain or utilise bio-based raw materials for battery electrode materials.”

In the future the supply should come from recycled materials, to achieve the targets set by the EU battery regulation, we need new technologies, solutions and a set of different thinking to materialise this numbers and that’s exactly what Horizon Europe is going to tackle.

One of the primary topics for the recycling is improvement of adoptability and flexibility of existing recycling processes, we should also make sure that giga-factories reutilise materials.

Panel Discussion

Marja Vilkman, Principal Scientist at VTT in Finland and the research chair for raw materials discussed the procedure of coming up with the strategic topics for the SRIA together with the BEPA working group. When it comes to raw materials she mentioned the importance of scaling up the raw material production and the bio based carbon materials. Regarding the recycling flexibility Marja confirmed its importance as we have several chemistries which might even require special processes for recycling.

Andreas Bratland, Special Advisor , Research Council of Norway talked from the perspective of batteries and electrification responsible he is responsible of providing funding to private companies and research organisations to develop more sustainable and cost efficient batteries. One of the most successful projects we had resulted in the opening of a recycling facility producing black mass and aluminium.

When it comes to raw materials, Norway has resources of nickel and cobalt but we have been importing materials in the last years. We are aware of the scarcity of lithium, therefore an important task is to move to more sustainable chemistries.

Jaakko Soini, Senior Manager Strategy Business Development, in Fortum discussed the economic viability of battery recycling, and explained how Finland’s tradition in mining and recycling has created a stimulating environment for businesses, including investment opportunities, skilled workforce and opportunities for collaboration.  Finally, he argued that innovation in recycling should be slowly integrated in the production line, and investments must be made along the way, in different parts of the value chain.

Fernando Machado, General Manager of Battery Cluster Portugal, explained how the country has utilized the guidelines established by the SRIA, and adapted them in its national context, aiming to accelerate commercialisation of energy storage and to create partnerships between academia and industry. Even though, Portuguese lithium is expected to be available in the markets by 2026, cooperation in the European level is still needed to help fast-track procedures and accelerate the deployment of new technologies in the raw materials and recycling sector.

Q&A

The Q&A session focused on the challenges occurring in recycling different new chemistries like LFP, the acceptance these projects by local communities and examined whether recycled metals are enough to support our increasing needs.

How do you look at the integration of new chemistries into the recycling ecosystem?

The development of new chemistries is inherently a good thing for the industry, showing its continuing progress. Before making the decision to invest in a recycling facility for these chemistries, we need to heavily monitor and analyse the newest developments in the market. The recycling process is always taking place some time after use, so there are ways to predict how widely some materials will be used in the future, and gives the industry time to adapt to these changes. Some chemistries might even be easier to recycle, like sodium-ion while others will probably pose issues to recycling facilities like solid-state batteries. These challenges include both the cost factor, as well as safety reasons or drastic but necessary modifications in the production line for these chemistries. It is important that recycling is a parameter we think about about already in the developing process of a new battery technology, to make sure it complies with current regulations.

How important is the social acceptability of recycling and raw materials projects?

Acceptance by the local communities can only be gained through the appropriate information of citizen groups on the project and its consequences. Explaining the environmental and economic impact of not building such projects but also pointing out the employment opportunities that might arise is also a way to help local communities agree to the projects.  We need to visualise things to see what is the cost of investing and of not investing and what is the environmental impact of creating these extraction projects or not creating them. We need to show citizens the added value in the long run, to get the local communities on board.

There is indeed negative impact inflicted upon local communities which should be dealt with by supporting the local population to reduce the negative consequences. In Portugal, according to Fernando Machado, investing in infrastructure in the area, like new roads, education or other facilities is one way to improve the quality of life of the citizens, compensating them for the negative impact they endure.

Do you think the industry will be ready for the raw materials and recycling targets in the CRMA and the Battery Regulation?

The targets of the Battery regulation for recycling go above the average predicted by the International Energy Agency, showing once again the high sustainability standards of the European sector. As far as the readiness of businesses to achieve these targets, in the SRIA, we want to try to help industry reach its goals by directing investment to the recycling projects that can help maximize the impact of the investments. Industry should be flexible and adaptable, however it is true that new chemistries require drastic change in current recycling facilities but also streamlining collection and reverse logistics.

Are we there to tackle the cost efficiency of LFP batteries. When we are talking about the assets, we are running we are looking at other chemistries than LFP.

According to Jaakko Soini, LFP is one of the chemistries where efforts are made to define how recycling would work in the future, but usually when talking about the current project they are running, it is mainly NCM or NCA chemistries rather than LFP.

When do you think we will have big quantities of recycled batteries available in Norway?

Andreas Bratland argued that it will take time until they reach large volumes, production of batteries from recycled materials are still at a low level. When thinking of the  building electric cars they will be building for the coming decade, the majority of minerals used will be primary materials and not come from recycled batteries, at least for the near future.

 

Conclusion

The concluding remarks were presented by Johan Blondelle, Policy Office at Directorate General for Research and Innovation, and Wouter IJzermans, Executive Director of BEPA. Mr Blondelle stressed out the urgent need for further coordination of Horizon Europe with national funding programmes and other funding programmes inside the Commission.

The new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda has the potential to become a common technological road map, and act as a compass for battery innovation in Europe, bringing stakeholders of the European battery community together.