Battery Circular Economy News

1. BATTERY RECYCLING INDUSTRY COULD PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

ABRI’s inaugural Australian Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Summit was attended by over 110 industry leaders from companies across the entire battery value chain, the automotive sector, investors, energy and recycling technology researchers and government officials. The key message from the Summit – battery recycling industry could play a major role in the manufacturing sector in the Australian economy and across the South Pacific with more government support for growing commercial opportunities, cutting red tape, backing exportable technology and the development of sovereign capabilities.

It was great to get CEO feedback such as:

“Thanks also for an excellent summit. I think it is the best, most-focussed event I’ve attended.”

“I have been to a lot of conferences and honestly as a delegate it was among the best I have attended.”

Using the conference as a platform, ABRI will be advocating strongly in the coming months with decision-makers to ensure the industry can grow and thrive into the future creating opportunities for Australian business, exports and intellectual property. The Summit media release highlights that the battery recycling industry could play a major role in the manufacturing sector in the Australian economy and across the South Pacific with more government support for growing commercial opportunities, cutting red tape, backing exportable technology and the development of sovereign capabilities.

This link provides access to the Summit materials – speaker slides, research publications and information on sponsor capabilities. We hope this is a great reference material site for you. Thanks to LCC Asia Pacific, the lead partner in organising the Summit, for developing this information portal.

Thanks again to our sponsors:

infinitev

Battery Stewardship Council  & B-cycle

Lithium Australia & Envirostream

Enirgi Power Storage Recycling

LCC Asia Pacific

Battery Pollution Technologies 

Lex Enviro Services 

2. MOVING BEYOND INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS - INCENTIVES FOR HOUSEHOLDS TO PHYSICALLY DROP OFF BATTERIES FOR RECYCLING

Battery instigated fires in waste facilities is a rapidly growing global issue. It is dangerous and costly for the companies managing waste services, and it is contributes to significant environmental damage.

Companies are moving beyond information campaigns to provide consumer incentives to physically drop off batteries for recycling, thereby ensuring they are out of waste streams. A selection of programs which has come to ABRI’s attention over recent months includes:

• Call2Recycle has partnered with four Canadian Football League (CFL) teams to launch the Defend Your Turf  program. By recycling batteries, CFL fans have a chance to win tickets and an authentic team jersey. To be eligible, they need to take their batteries to a drop-off location, while at the drop-off spot use their mobile phone to confirm their location and complete an online form for a chance to win.
• Apple has launched a trade in program in the US, Canada and UK. For other countries, you can search Apple’s reuse and recycling program by country to find out what services are available.
• Cancer Research UK and Ecosurety have a partnership to recycle batteries where Cancer Research UK receives £100 for every tonne of batteries donated.

3. BATTERY RECYCLING AND BLACK MASS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT IN THE BATTERY RAW MATERIAL CHAIN

Lead batteries are already a leading circular economy product with around 80% or more of the lead in these batteries from recycled lead.

Like lead,  recycling lithium based batteries will become increasingly important as the recovered metals contribute to the battery raw material supply chain. Estimates from S&P Global Commodity Insights project recycled battery materials will account for 15% of the global supply of lithium, 11% for nickel and 44% for cobalt by 2030. This Transport Topics article talks about the increasing EV company public focus and announcements on black mass processing and recovery of secondary materials.

Battery recycling has significantly lower emissions and higher concentrations of mineral recovery than processing raw materials. This is why, battery recycler and OEMs are focusing on improving mineral and cathode extraction techniques from black mass.

As this Clean Technica article, by Joe Borras, discusses, the race is on to recycle and upcycle EV battery cathode material.

4. BATTERY MATERIAL NEEDS, SUSTAINABILITY AND SAFETY ARE LEADING TO EXCITING INNOVATIONS

ABRI sees many leading research projects across the battery value chain. Research looking to solve multiple challenges and bringing automation to support safe battery recycling is of particular interest as highlighted in these stories:

• Researchers in Singapore have developed a technique to recover high purity silicon from photovoltaic cells for use in lithium-ion battery anodes, with the battery performance comparable to as-purchased silicon. Simplified silicon recovery from photovoltaic waste enables high performance, sustainable lithium-ion batteries
• US Oak Ridge National Laboratory is bringing technical expertise from their Energy Science and Technology Directorate to apply a robot and other automated methods to safely disassemble electric vehicle batteries for recycling or reuse. Recycling revival: Jonathan Harter’s initiative brings creative problem-solving to EV battery recycling

5. JOIN ABRI AND BE PART OF THE AUSTRALIAN BATTERY RECYCLING INDUSTRY

Join ABRI for a range of benefits and insights into Australia’s rapidly growing battery recycling and reuse industry:

• 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
• Networking – opportunities to meet with companies across the battery supply chain to create industry wide opportunities
• Collaboration with Australian Battery Industry Association on industry issues e.g. lithium ion battery safety

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