Photo: Eveline de Bruin from Pixabay
Polish recycling company Elemental Holding will construct a EUR 182 million facility for treating batteries and other metals containing waste. The plant will be the first in the EU, and one of the first in the world.
Electric vehicles are the main solution for reducing CO2 emissions in transport as well as air pollution, but their expansion will produce another issue – used batteries. Recycling can reduce the need for extracting minerals and manufacturing raw materials.
There aren’t many recycling factories around the world, as the number of EVs is low. According to Autoweek, more companies and carmakers are making plans to recycle in order to save costs. For example, German carmaker Volkswagen has recently opened a pilot plant in Salzgitter, while Canadian company Li-Cycle is developing the largest battery recycling plant in North America.
Facility will produce metals that can be reused as raw materials for new batteries
Polish company Elemental Holding collects and recycles platinum group metals and electrical waste. It operates in Poland, other European countries, the Middle East and the United States of America.
The production and use of recycled batteries can lead to carbon savings as high as 98% compared to their primary counterparts
According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the plant in Poland will produce secondary metals and other materials that can be reused as raw materials for new batteries or other applications, providing an essential service in the lithium-ion battery value chain.
The production and use of recycled batteries and metals can lead to carbon savings as high as 98% compared to their primary counterparts, as well as to more efficient use of scarce natural resources.
EBRD will provide EUR 25 million loan for the investment, which is also co-financed by Poland’s NCBR, and the European Union
EBRD said it approved a EUR 25 million loan for Elemental Holding within a wider package to finance the construction of the pioneering facility, one of the first in the world to treat spent lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other waste containing metals that are critical for e-mobility.
The facility in Poland entails the deployment of state-of-the-art innovative technology supplemented and co-financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), with the support of the European Commission.
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