battery recycling

Chemicals giant BASF is set to build a battery recycling prototype plant in Germany to extract key materials from end-of-life lithium-ion cells and production scrap.

The plant at BASF’s cathode active materials (CAM) plant site in Schwarzheide is scheduled to be commissioned by 2023.

The prototype plant will allow for the “development of operational procedures and optimisation” of technology to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese from used batteries as well as off spec material from cell producers and battery material producers.

The recovered metals will be used to manufacturer cathode active materials.

Dr. Matthias Dohrn, senior vice president, precious and base metal services at BASF, said: “With this battery recycling, plus leading process technology for manufacturing of cathode active materials, we aim to ‘close the loop’ while reducing the CO₂ footprint of our cathode active materials by up to 60% in total compared to industry standards.”

The plant’s location was announced in February.

Aggressive cathode expansion

In June, BASF is set to form a joint venture (JV) with Hunan Shanshan Energy to produce lithium-ion battery cathode active materials (CAM) and precursors (PCAM) in China.

German firm BASF will have a 51% share of the JV when it closes later this summer following the approval of the relevant authorities.

In May, materials firm Umicore and BASF entered into a non-exclusive patent cross-license agreement covering a range of lithium-ion cathode materials and their precursors.

Retriev Technologies has solidified its position in the North American lithium-ion battery recycling market with two milestones this month.

Last week the firm announced its first volume shipment of recovered battery materials to Marubeni Corporation.

The shipment was made under the umbrella of their strategic partnership, which was formed in February to develop an business model for end-of-life Lithium-ion batteries.

The recycling program aims to take valuable metals recovered from used batteries to expand the circular business model for EV battery-to-battery closed loop recycling.

Earlier this month, the company teamed up with electronics recycler Hobi International to begin collecting and recycling large format EV batteries throughout North America.

The companies entered into a collaborative partnership to ensure lithium batteries used in EVs are collected and responsibly recycled to create value within the battery industry’s circular economy.

Rick Rose, vice president of Retriev Technologies’ Ohio Corporate Headquarters, said: “As more states adopt measures similar to California, which has implemented a ban on internal combustion engines sold in the state starting in 2030, the EV market will grow exponentially in the coming years. 

“The end-of-life management and recycling of these batteries is critical for environmental safety and sustainability, and it must be addressed now.” 

Last year, scientists at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the US demonstrated a proof-of-principle electrochemical process for recycling lithium-ion batteries using material from Retriev.

Fenix Battery Recycling has opened a multi-chemistry battery recycling facility in Kilwinning in Scotland specialising in electric vehicle batteries.

The fully licensed and permitted site near Glasgow is ready to accept batteries for storage and discharge, with material coming from as far as the US to be treated by the company.

The news comes after Fenix Battery Recycling, Ever Resource and the University of Birmingham received £955,000 ($1.3 million) grant funding. 

The funding was from the UK government’s Innovate UK Smart Grants programme, and will be used to develop separation technologies for end-of-life lithium ion batteries.

Damian Lambkin, commercial and business development director at Fenix Battery Recycling said he company’s development plans also include establishing educational and research facilities within the wider community in Scotland.

Fenix Battery Recycling also has a plant at Willenhall in the West Midlands, which is due to become fully operational once it receives its permit from the Environment Agency – a process which has been delayed by Covid-19. 

Mineral extraction and battery recycling company American Battery Metals Corporation— which is changing its name to American Battery Technology Company— has chosen northern Nevada, US, for its lithium-ion battery recycling facility.

The company chose the location because of the proximity of Tesla's Gigafactory, established road and rail infrastructure, and access to a qualified labour pool. 

Pilot plant test‐work on project development company Neometals’ proprietary lithium‐ion battery recycling technology has been successfully completed after 13 months.

The pilot, undertaken by SGS Canada, represents part of the pre‐development activities for a proposed commercial venture to recover materials from electric vehicle and consumer electronics lithium-ion cells.