Eramet reports progress on battery recycling plant

France-based mining and minerals company Eramet says it is on track to scale up to the “industrialization” phase of a lithium-ion battery recycling effort to be based in France.

Last year, the company signed an agreement with solid waste and recycling firm Suez, also based in France, that, depending on the outcome of testing and research, could lead to the construction of an electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion battery recycling plant in by 2024.

Subsequently, Suez has been acquired by former competitor Veolia, but Eramet says progress on the battery recycling venture continues.

Eramet says the two companies will now “initiate the pre-industrial phase” and “depending on the outcome of this pre-industrial phase, “Eramet and Suez will build a facility at an as yet unselected site in France “to produce black mass, a metal concentrate (nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium and graphite) suitable for hydrometallurgical refining.”

Regarding the refining steps, Eramet says it has started the construction of a pre-industrial demonstrator within its research and innovation center, which it calls “an essential step to pave the way for the commercial phase.”

The overall process is on track, says Eramet, for “an industrial phase [to] be launched as early as 2024 for the black mass production step, and by 2025-2026 for the refining steps from the black mass to battery grade products.”

In a March 24 presentation posted to the Eramet website, the company brands the project as ReLieVe and calls it “an innovative closed-loop process for lithiumi-ion batteries recycling.” It still lists Suez as being responsible for “collecting and dismantling” and includes BASF as responsible for “producing new electrode materials.”