The ABB FIA Formula E Championship has announced a new partnership with Umicore to act as its official battery recycling partner. The Belgium-based materials technology and recycling group has agreed to recycle the lithium-ion battery units and cells used during the first two seasons of the electric street racing series.
“This is an important moment for Formula E, and I’m grateful to be partnering with Umicore on this initiative,” states Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of Formula E. “Sustainability is at the core of both companies, and to be able to recycle our battery cells with a closed loop approach means we’re doing our utmost to limit the impact we have on the environment while promoting a wider message of clean mobility.”
Says Kurt Vandeputte, a senior vice president with Umicore, “It’s an honor for Umicore to demonstrate our closed loop business approach for the lithium-ion batteries in Formula E. After introducing our battery materials expertise as technology partner with Mahindra Racing in the championship, we’re excited to now also offer our ‘closing the battery loop’ sustainable recycling solution for the end-of-life batteries of season one and two.”
The Formula E batteries from seasons one and two, which were created by United Kingdom-based Williams Advanced Engineering, have been collected and are in the process of being recycled by Umicore. The process consists of sorting, dismantling and recycling, with metals being recovered using smelting technology followed by hydrometallurgical treatment.
Umicore bills itself as one of only a few companies worldwide to offer a “closed loop” approach for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, which it says “will be vital as the adoption of electric vehicles becomes more mainstream.”