- The 3 companies are already actively engaged in an experimental phase
- According to a company release, the three partners seek to establish a sustainable supply source for strategic battery metals, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium
Groupe Renault, Veolia and Solva have announced their partnership to enable the circular economy of EV battery metals in Europe through closed-loop recycling. According to a company release, the three partners seek to establish a sustainable supply source for strategic battery metals, such as cobalt, nickel and lithium.
The companies plan to achieve this goal by leveraging their respective expertise at each step of the value chain – from collection of end-of-life electric vehicle batteries to dismantling, metal extraction and purification – and by enhancing existing mechanical and hydrometallurgical battery recycling processes.
Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault, said, “Groupe Renault has a holistic approach to the battery life cycle: repairing first-life batteries to extend their automotive lifespan, developing second-life applications for energy storage and setting up a system for collecting and recycling batteries. Today, we are proud to reinforce our commitment to battery recycling by joining forces with Veolia and Solvay.
He added, “We aim at implementing innovative and low-carbon battery recycling solutions to pave the way to sustainable sourcing for strategic battery materials as electric mobility is growing. Together, we will leverage our strong presence on the entire EV value chain in Europe to take a competitive position in the battery materials market and generate value beyond our core business.”
Actively engaged in an experimental phase
They said, “Through Solvay and Veolia’s joint innovative technology, strategic metals that were previously recovered in a form only suitable for metallurgical applications will be extracted and purified into high-purity metals ready to be reused in new batteries, thereby reducing the environmental footprint of future EV batteries through this closed loop.”
The 3 companies are already actively engaged in an experimental phase, which involves setting up a pre-industrial demo plant in France with the capability to extract and purify end-of-life EV battery metals.
Antoine Frérot CEO of Veolia, commented, “Given the magnitude of the environmental issues the world is facing, ecological transformation is an urgent need. With Groupe Renault joining Veolia and Solvay, we are collectively taking a step further towards closed-loop solutions to preserve natural resources. This shows how companies working together can think up and implement new solutions that both better our environment and renew our economies.”
