Waste GRAPhite RECycling for new lithium and alkaline batteries

Introduction

Batteries are a key technology to drive the green transition, support the shift to electrical mobility, and contribute to climate neutrality by 2050. Indeed, graphite was listed by the EU among the 34 strategic Critical Raw Materials and it is crucial as anode material for making every type of battery, either Lithium-based or alkaline.

Need for Strategic Actions

Strategic actions are required to overcome the graphite supply dependence from China and make battery production more sustainable.

Project Overview

The LIFE GRAPhiREC project aims to create the first industrial pilot project in Europe on graphite recycling from battery waste and to close the loop to produce new batteries. An innovative process that combines a dry mechanical step and hydrometallurgical refinement will be implemented by two Italian SMEs, ORIM and SIMA, that will install two new pilot plants with a full-scale waste treatment capacity of 1000 t/y.

Applications of Recycled Graphite

The recycled graphite will be used by Varta Group to manufacture new Lithium-Ion button batteries, electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and alkaline cells for LR6 batteries.

Project Status

The project starts at TRL 5, thanks to previous R&D work and the exploitation of the H2020-FENIX project results.

Environmental Advantages

GRAPhiREC will bring about important environmental advantages such as:

1. Recovery of 630 tons of graphite by the end of the project.
2. Significant waste prevention (around 4,500 tons by the end of the project).
3. Substantial GHG, energy, and water savings compared to primary production of natural or synthetic graphite.

Sustainability and Economic Impact

The project sustainability after its end is assured: until 2032 (5 years after the project's end), the upscaling of project results will generate gross revenues of 23.4 Meur and battery production cost savings of about 25 Meur.

Consortium and Collaboration

The project will be implemented by 8 European partners, covering the circular economy value chain. The consortium involves:

• Two SMEs
• Two multinational groups
• Two RTD entities
• One sector association

It is also supported by some crucial external stakeholders.

Regulatory Contributions

LIFE GRAPhiREC thus substantially contributes to the implementation of:

• The Batteries Regulation 2023/1542
• The Critical Raw Materials Act (COM(2023) 160)
• The new Circular Economy Action Plan (COM/2020/98 final)
• The Zero Pollution Action Plan (COM(2021) 400 final)