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Batteries

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On January 24th , WeLOOP will organise the next meeting in the BATTERS project. This meeting follows two previous events for which you can find the presentations on the dedicated pages: 1st BATTERS project meeting and Workshop on battery waste recycling

This meeting aims to present the first results of the territorial LCA of batteries in the Region Hauts-de-France and discuss the beginnings of the roadmap in progress.

The battery market is segmented by many types of applications that can be distinguished into two main categories: stationary and mobile; but also different sectors of activity (Energy, transport, IT, etc.) in which there is a multitude of other battery technologies (Pb/Acid, NiCd, NiMH, Li-ion, etc.).

The exponential growth of this market, particularly that of lithium batteries, both globally and in Europe, is mainly due to the explosion of the electric car sector. In the transition to a low-carbon economy, electric mobility is the priority axis chosen by politicians and car manufacturers. Projections predict a 14-fold increase in global demand for batteries annoncent d’ici 2030 and the EU could account for 17% of this demand.

It is against this background that a proposal for a new battery regulation sur les batteries a été publié fin 2020 qui vise à remplacer la directive applicable aux batteries datant de 2006.

This regulation suggestion aims to frame the entire life cycle of batteries and to include their development in a circular economy approach. It deals in particular with the issues of extraction conditions of materials and their criticality, especially for the end of life of batteries (collection and sorting, reuse in second life, recycling for reuse of metals in closed loop, integration of minimum percentage of recycled materials in batteries).

On the 9th of December 2022 the European Council and the European Parliament have concluded a provisional agreement pending validation by both institutions.

Our projects

Through its various projects, WeLOOP is in total adequacy with the planned regulatory changes and is a key player in the environmental expertise of batteries.

BATTERS – A circular economy approach

This project aims to support the actors of the battery sector in the Hauts-de-France region in understanding, acquiring and implementing the circular economy process. The general approach will be based on the establishment of an inventory of the situation, which will make it possible to identify and better understand the needs of the sector with its regional specificities, and to propose optimised and adapted action plans. The project is financed by the Fonds Régional pour l'Amplification de la Troisième Révolution Industrielle and led by WeLOOP.

RENAULT – Configurable modelling for battery recycling

The goal of this project is to model the recycling processes of Li-ion batteries on GaBi, and to parameterise these models according to the composition of the Black Mass. It also includes the implementation of the integration of recycled materials in the Renault battery design model.

ScoreLCA – Battery LCI

Production of Life Cycle Inventories (LCI) for battery recycling processes for the 3 main methods: high temperature treatment (pyrometallurgy), chemical treatment (hydrometallurgy, solvent separation and precipitation), and mixed treatment, including Black Mass preparation. These LCI data have been developed to fill a gap in robust and representative data on current market technologies.

RecyBat-Li – Direct recycling of batteries

Development of direct reconditioning routes for positive electrodes of NMC batteries, containing lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese, as well as for negative electrodes containing graphite. In addition to optimising the technical parameters of the reconditioning routes, environmental and economic parameters were considered in the design and optimisation of the processes. The project was in partnership with the University of Picardie Jules Verne, LRCS (Laboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie des Solides) and the CNRS.

Mob-ion – Eco-designed electric scooter

LCA of the AM1 scooter, an electric scooter designed to be fully disassembled and whose end-of-life parts are either sent for reuse or recycling. The study was based on a complete analysis: battery manufacturing, scooter manufacturing, use, second life in stationary storage, and end-of-life recycling

AgriBat – Recycling of air-zinc batteries

This project aims to carry out the LCA of the new zinc-air battery recovery process developed by Lumiver, based in Seclin, France. The goal is to demonstrate the relevance of the development of this process compared to other available processes.