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Someone is thinking ahead: The environmental impact of making EV batteries is a rising concern as the energy transition shift moves forward but new techniques to recycle critical minerals are emerging, Euronews reported.
How much scrap are we talking about? Without any recycling measures in place, 8 mn tons of battery scrap could be disposed of in US landfills alone by 2040, Reuters reported, citing US government estimates. Government reports added that recycling EV batteries could decrease mining needs for copper by 55% by 2040, while the figures for cobalt and nickel would decrease 35%, and the mining needs for lithium would decrease by 25%.
The French might have the answer: The process of extracting critical metals used in EVs is harmful to the environment, causing damage to the land being mined and consuming tremendous amounts of water. This has pushed French mining group Eramet to come up with techniques to recycle the critical metals used in EVs — like nickel, cobalt and lithium — so they can be used to make new batteries.
How it works: Scientists working on this endeavor first crush the old batteries into a dark, powder-like substance called “black mass,” which comprises nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium. These elements are separated through a “liquid-liquid” separation technique, according to project manager Sophie Lebouil. This oil contains an “extractant molecule” that captures the nickel only, she explains. When the two solutions are separated, what is left is a water-based solution containing the lithium and other elements. The final phase of the process involves producing jars of critical materials for the batteries, including green granules of nickel sulfate, copper red granules of cobalt sulfate, and a white powder of lithium carbonate. These would go up for sale and reuse in new batteries.
Eramet could be the first: The French mining group aims to become a pioneer in recycling EV batteries with the launch of its first pilot plant in Trappes to test the use of “black mass”. If successful, Eramet plans to open a battery recycling facility in France in 2027 to process 50k tons of battery modules a year — equal to 25k tons of “black mass” — enabling Eramet to supply some 10% of the European market’s EV batteries, the company said.
