(AOF) – Eramert’s lithium-ion battery recycling project has taken another key step towards its industrialization in France as the project successfully demonstrated its ability to recycle all the valuable metals contained in it in a closed loop. in lithium-ion batteries with very high yields, adapted to the requirements of future European regulations.
On the first stages of recycling, Eramet and Suez decided to strengthen their cooperation by signing a new partnership agreement last February to launch the pre-industrial phase for the recovery of lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles.
According to the conclusions of this pre-industrial phase, Eramet and Suez plan to build in France, by 2024, a lithium-ion battery recycling plant for the production of black mass, a concentrate of metals (nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium, graphite) suitable for hydrometallurgical refining steps.
For the refining stage, Eramet is undertaking the construction of a pre-industrial demonstrator within its research and innovation center, an essential stage in preparing for the commercial phase. This demonstrator will make it possible to optimize the efficiency of the recycling process and to take into account the requirements of future customers and partners, thanks to the Group’s know-how in extraction process engineering and its operational expertise in hydrometallurgy.
On the basis of these new advances and if the economic conditions are met, an entry into the industrial phase could take place as early as 2024 on the upstream stage of blackmass production and by 2025-2026 for the stage of refining blackmass into products. for batteries.
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Metals involved in a “supercycle”
Several experts use this term to refer to the progression of prices in the years to come. Copper and aluminium, which play a central role in decarbonization policies, present significant investment needs. Copper production is expected to decline in 2023 if new mines are not explored.
Meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement will lead to a six-fold increase in the demand for minerals by 2040. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the limited supply of critical minerals such as that lithium or nickel threaten the energy transition. The investment period is long because more than sixteen years on average are required between discovery and the first production of a mining project.