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1. B-CYCLE, AUSTRALIA’S BATTERY STEWARDSHIP SCHEME, MARKS A SUCCESSFUL FIRST SIX MONTHS OF OPERATION |
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In the first six months of 2022 (January to June), B-cycle:
🔋Established more than 3,200 Drop-off points across all Australian states and territories .
🔋Collected over 918,000 kilograms of used batteries.
🔋Facilitated over 65,000 unique searches for the closest B-cycle drop off point.
🔋Attracted more than 100 participating organisations including 48 importers and 28 retailers.
🔋Covered an estimated 90% of loose battery imports.
For more information on B-cycle and the scheme’s performance read the Positive Charge Report.
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2. THE TREND CONTINUES – ENERGY, MINING AND AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES INTEGRATING BATTERY RECYCLING INTO BUSINESS OPERATIONS |
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Fortum is joining a growing list of companies globally that are vertically integrating battery recycling into their business models. These companies are bringing their metallurgical and advanced manufacturing expertise to see that used batteries become a feedstock for new batteries and other products.
Fortum, a major European energy producer, has announced the founding of Fortum Batterie Recycling in Germany to support safe and sustainable lithium battery recycling in central Europe. Operations are scheduled to commence late 2022.
The black mass obtained from the recycled batteries will be sent Fortum’s hydrometallurgical recycling facility in Finland, where it can become a feedstock for the European battery value chain. It expects to recover 95% of the value materials in the black mass for new feedstock.
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3. NSW FIRE AND RESCUE GLOBAL COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT ON LITHIUM BATTERY SAFETY |
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NSW Fire and Rescue are one of the few fire services worldwide with a dedicated Fire Research Team and fire testing capability. They are currently leading the way with a collaborative research program on the Safety of Alternative and Renewable Energy Technologies (SARET).
Partnering with other fire services, government agencies, research institutions, and industries, including the Australian Battery Recycling Initiative, from around the world, the SARET program is looking at best practice fire response to lithium-ion battery-related fires, end-of-life lithium-ion battery hazard management, electric vehicle fires in structures, and fire propagation in battery energy storage systems. A dedicated project website provides further information on the research streams.
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4. OVERVIEW OF THE MAIN BATTERIES AND BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR EVS |
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This article compares the pros and cons of major EV battery chemistries and their battery management systems, the smarts which operate the battery and support communication and machine learning.
It is authored by Wei Liu and K.T. Chau of the University of Hong Kong and Tobias Placke from the MEET Battery Research Centre at the University of Munster and will be formally published in the November Energy Reports.
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5. NISSAN AUSTRALIA TO USE RECYCLED LEAF BATTERIES TO POWER PART OF ITS PRODUCTION FACILITY |
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Nissan Australia has announced its Nissan Casting Australia Plant (NCAP) will use recycled LEAF batteries to power part of its production facility. The NCAP Battery Project, called Nissan Node, will see a new solar array installed at Nissan Casting Australia, as well as new EV chargers. The Nissan Node will include the installation of a battery energy storage system made of nine repurposed Gen 1 Nissan LEAF batteries, which will charge via the solar array.
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6. AUTOVISTA24 REPORTS ON THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR’S FOCUS ON BATTERY REUSE |
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This Autovista 24 article looks at the work by automotive companies, particularly with energy companies to repurpose EV batteries for other uses. The case studies in the article include projects underway at VW, Nissan and Renault.
This trend towards repurposing EV batteries is occurring in many jurisdictions. Another example is the Moment Energy and Mercedes Benz supply agreement announcement for second life energy storage systems in the North American market.
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7. FM MAGAZINE - ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERIES: A CASE FOR THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY |
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This article written by Ian Thomson for FM Magazine presents a model for evaluating the benefits of reuse and recycling across the EV battery life cycle by mapping sustainability impacts. Mr Thomson reports that accounting systems do not capture benefits of reuse.
The Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business has developed a model to evaluate circular economy solutions and applied this to three end of life production, use and reuse scenarios:
- Take-make-use (a battery is made from virgin materials and disposed of in a landfill when it is no longer useful but still has 80% efficiency left)
- Second life
- Infinite cycle of use
The key findings are a circular approach will improve sustainability. However, work needs to continue to optimise the sustainable benefits and continue to reduce environmental impacts.
Ian Thomson is a professor of accounting and sustainability and director of the Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business at the University of Birmingham in the UK.
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8. JOIN ABRI AND BE PART OF THE AUSTRALIAN BATTERY RECYCLING INDUSTRY |
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Workshops – Presentations and policy discussions from leading industry players and research institutions
Policy and advocacy – working with governments on a national waste tracking system
News – member bulletins on key regulatory and other events, general bulletins on industry news
Collaboration with Australian Battery Industry Association on industry issues e.g. lithium ion battery safety
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