Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt has unveiled its first lithium-ion battery cell made using 100% recycled cobalt, manganese and nickel as it looks to upscale recycling facilities in Sweden.
Northvolt 100% recycled battery. Credit: Northvolt
Northvolt hopes to up-scale its attery recycling to allow for increased production capacity using entirely recycled materials. Credit: Northvolt
Manufactured as part of the company's "Revolt" recycling program, the battery's cathode has been produced using a mix of these three metals, sourced from recycled battery waste at its plant in Västerås.
Read more: Northvolt increases planned gigafactory capacity due to high demand
Northolt has set itself a target of scaling up recycling capabilities at its Swedish plants, with the potential to recycle up to 125,000 batteries annually, the company claims, leading to around 30GWh of battery production per year as part of plans to set up a sustainable battery chain to aid in the rapid decarbonisation of industry.
“What we have shown here is a clear pathway to closing the loop on batteries and that there exists a sustainable, environmentally-preferable alternative to conventional mining in order to source raw materials for battery production," said Emma Nehrenheim, Northvolt’s Chief Environmental Officer and the head of the Revolt initiative.
"The recycling process can recover up to 95% of the metals in a battery to a level of purity on par with fresh virgin material. What we need now is to scale-up recycling capacities in anticipation of future volumes of batteries requiring recycling," she added.
The materials were reportedly recovered using a low-energy hydrometallurgical treatment - a chemical solution in which the solvent is water - which involves the use of an aqueous substance that isolates the metals and separates them from any impurities.
Northolt will now aim to scale-up recycling capabilities with a goal of producing cells with 50% recycled material by 2030.
The company's planned battery recycling gigafactory, the Revolt Ett, will also have its original recycling capacity extended beyond its original plans to enable the recycling of up to 125,000 batteries manually. Construction on the plant is expected to commence in Q1 of 2022, with operations planned for 2023.
Material for the plant will be sourced from two areas: end-of-life batteries from electric vehicles and production scrap from Northvolt Ett.
Nehrenheim claims as many as 250,000 batteries in Europe could reach the end of their lives by 2030, and that facilities will need to be in place to salvage the necessary materials from them.
It is particularly important to recycle cobalt from batteries, due to there being ethical concerns being raised over the mining of so-called "conflict minerals".
There are also concerns over nickel supply - which could outstrip demand very rapidly - as companies look for alternative chemical formulae to replace cobalt, usually by adding extra nickel.
Read more: Nickel demand may outstrip supply by mid-decade, Rystad warns
"Ultimately, a commitment to circularity will not only significantly reduce the environmental impacts of the battery industry, but also contribute to our vision to set a new benchmark for sustainability in manufacturing," Nehrenheim concluded.
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