Northvolt has announced its produced a lithium-ion battery cell featuring a nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode produced with metals recovered through the recycling of battery waste.
The recycling process recovers up to 95% of the metals in a battery to a level of purity on par with virgin material. Nickel, manganese and cobalt metals used in the new battery cell were recovered from battery waste through a low-energy hydrometallurgical treatment which involved the use of an aqueous solution to isolate the metals and separate them from impurities.
The recycling and battery manufacturing processes occur at a single site and the next step for Northvolt is to scale-up its recycling capacity. Northvolt aims to produce cells with 50% recycled material by 2030 and the company ultimately plans a giga-scale recycling plant to enable recycling of 125,000 tons of batteries per year.
Construction is scheduled to commence in Q1 2022 and with the recycling plant operational in 2023. The plant will receive material for recycling from two sources: end-of-life batteries from electric vehicles and production scrap from its existing battery manufacturing plant.
Materials recovery will also include copper, aluminium and plastics which will be recirculated back into manufacturing flows through local third-parties.
Northvolt is a Swedish company manufacturing lithium-ion batteries from recycled materials with a focus on electric vehicles.
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