Business Finland has granted in October the BATCircle3.0 (Finland-based Circular Ecosystem of Battery Metals) consortium with 13.4 million euros for the next three years. BATCircle3.0 boosts dedicated battery recycling and battery materials research that builds on the earlier successes in pioneering national battery metal ecosystems 2019-2024. VTT has an important role in the project by enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of recycling through impurity management and chemical circulation.
BATCircle3.0 represents one of the most relevant and timely research areas as it targets the material transition in energy storage.
The project aims to enhance the circulation of valuable battery materials and develop feasible solutions for components that are currently not recycled. As the goals go beyond the ambition of the existing Battery Regulation, the intention is to further decrease the dependence on critical raw materials. Overall, such ambition highlights the need for co-innovative research at the academy-industry interface – based on good collaboration and knowledge exchange – to support both battery value chain development in Finland and enhance European competitiveness.
The collaboration is lead by Aalto University involving 4 research organizations and 15 companies. In the project, VTT’s research focuses on investigating the lithium-ion battery manufacturing scraps and their integration into recycling processes. Additionally, the behavior and management of impurities throughout the entire recycling chain are studied. The project also investigates the circulation of chemicals back to processes, aiming for more sustainable treatment. VTT’s budget for the project is around 1.4 million euros.
“I’m eager to continue our work with battery recycling in BATCircle 3.0, leveraging our expertise and capabilities throughout the treatment chain. At VTT, we can study the entire recycling chain from mechanical pre-treatment to hydrometallurgical processing and metals recovery, integrated with chemical circulation. This is truly unique, and I find it very inspiring,” says Senior Scientist John Bachér, project manager in the project.
BATCircle3.0 partners:
- Aalto University, LUT University, University of Oulu
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
- Detection Technology Oyj, Fortum Battery Recycling Oy, Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science Finland Oy, Metso Finland Oy, Sibanye-Stillwater's Keliber lithium project, Suomen Malmijalostus Oy (Finnish Minerals Group), Umicore Battery Materials Finland Oy, AkkuSer Oy, BroadBit Batteries Oy, CeLLife Technologies Oy, FinnCobalt Oy, FunktioMat Oy, Grafintec Oy, Weeefiner Oy, X-Ray Mineral Services Oy
