The start Navarra BeePlanet factory participate in the project batrawfinanced by European horizon -a European Union research and innovation program- endowed with 10.2 million euros. The objective of this initiative, in which eighteen partners from seven different countries participate, is to recover raw materials from used electric vehicle batteries, in order to “help guarantee a stable supply chain to support the expected growth of the market electric mobility“.
The four-year project is led by Leitat Technology Center (Terrassa, Barcelona) and aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on “critical, mostly imported” raw materials, thereby establishing supply chains “to meet future demand for batteries for electric vehicles” . This step, in turn, “should lead to better battery recycling and more sustainable use of materials.”
Currently, the European Parliament is working on updating the current Battery Directive. More specifically, the proposal aims to ensure that all batteries marketed in the EU, including those intended for electric vehicles, are managed sustainably at the end of their useful life and serve as a source of secondary raw materials for sectors such as that automotivefinally renewable energies and low carbon technologies.
The project is developed by a consortium involving eighteen partners from seven different countries.
The initiative will consist of developing two demonstrators with electric vehicle batteries (and with the possibility of extending them to other types of batteries). Thanks to them, the metals and materials contained in these batteries will then be recovered, such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium, graphite, aluminum there copper.
The first of the demonstrators will be hosted at BeePlanet’s facilities and will use semi-automated battery pack dismantling processes to separate “up to 95% of their components” and isolate waste streams, including cells and modules. suitable for reuse. This summer, as announced by Navarra Capital a few weeks ago, the firm of Navarre will move to Orkoien after going through the CEIN.
The second will be located in the facilities of the nuclear energy company Not now (Bessines sur Gartempe, France) and will apply mechanical pre-treatment and hydrometallurgical recycling technology to improve the separation of the materials contained in the so-calledBlack Mass-composed of non-ferrous metals from the grinding of batteries- to separate “up to 98% of graphite, aluminum, copper and manganese”.
The project, which started on May 1 with the first meeting of the consortium, includes a first phase focused on the development of eco-design guidelines for the repair and dismantling of batteries, as well as the establishment of good practices. for the safe handling and transport of these. waste. The project will also create a battery prototype from the recovered raw materials
In a final phase, the partners will analyze the feasibility of a business plan for the exploitation on a European scale of these new battery dismantling and recycling processes. In addition, policy recommendations on the safe transport and handling of waste batteries will be developed and incorporated into ongoing regulatory developments. On the other hand, Batraw envisages the development of a passport batteries in the blockchain, consisting of captured information for access by interested parties.