Sustainability and Recycling

Lithium-ion batteries will not be realised as a ‘green technology’ unless they can become a part of a closed-loop recycling system. Battery cells contain many valuable materials, including pure copper and aluminium, but also iron, cobalt, manganese, and nickel containing-compounds. Therefore it is imperative that robust recycling methods are developed in order to reclaim these materials so they can be utilised in battery remanufacture – reducing the overall carbon footprint of batteries and their cost. The group is focussing on developing novel methods to efficiently reclaim these materials and demonstrating that new cells produced retain their electrochemical performance. Currently lithiumion batteries are only 20-30% recycled, the aim is to replicate the success of the lead-acid battery industry and attain a recycling rate >95%.

Projects Include:

MSM - Multi-Scale Modelling

Partners:

Imperial College London, Oxford University, Lancaster University, Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Birmingham, Portsmouth University, Southampton University, University College London 

Value:

£10million (across partners) 

Dates:

Mar 2018 – Feb 2021 (extension TBC)

Funding body:

The Faraday Institution 

Introduction:

The project aims to make the battery modelling tools that are being developed in academia available to industry. The focus is to apply fundamental science to models in order to improve the predictability of battery systems in automotive and energy storage applications. These models aim to predict ionic, electronic and thermal transport across the atomic and up to battery pack scale. This collaboration utilises teams at several universities to draw from a wide range of disciplines to enable a concerted approach to enable life-time optimisation and prediction of performance parameters, through partnering with battery management systems for greater life-time in the field.

External website

Multi-scale Modelling - The Faraday Institution

ReLiB – Reuse and Recycling of Lithium-ion Batteries

Partners:

Partnering with 6 British Universities and engaging with over 20 industrial organisations.

Value:

~£12m

Dates:

2018-2021

Funding body:

The Faraday Institution

Executive summary:

The overall aim of the ReLiB project is to understand the conditions required to ensure the sustainable management of lithium-ion batteries when they reach the end of their useful life in electric vehicles. This will enhance the overall efficiency of the supply chain and ensure that the UK has the facilities required for safe, economic and environmentally sound management of the materials contained in lithium-ion batteries. Since many of the components in batteries are made from valuable elements with special properties, which should not be disposed of as waste, it makes sense to explore how these could be recovered from end-of-life batteries to develop a system for re-circulating this material for new battery production. This would reduce the demand for imported primary materials and would also enhance the security of supply and material efficiency.

External website:

ReLiB website

R2LiB

Project costs:

Total project costs: £3,520,090
Grant contribution: £2,461,238

Funded Period:

Oct 2018 - Mar 2021

Funding body:

Innovate UK

Executive summary:

With the increase in electric vehicles and the slow fade out of fossil fuelled combustion engines, there is an ever-increasing demand for energy storage devices in the automotive industry. 

In order to investigate the reuse aspects of cell materials and remanufacture of lithium ion batteries from the reclaimed and recycled components this project is focused on development of the first UK industrial scale capability to reclaim and reuse battery essential metals.

External website:

R2LIB (Reclamation, Remanufacture of Li Ion Batteries) - UK Research and Innovation