BATTECH, the joint research unit run by the Eurecat technology centre and the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), is this week showcasing technological innovations at the Battery Innovation Days, hosted this year in Barcelona, to make headway in recycling and reusing electric batteries at the end of their service life.
As a pacesetter in Southern Europe, BATTECH encompasses all battery value chain R&D and innovation including developing the materials making up the cells as key parts of the batteries and embedding them in large batteries for electric mobility and energy systems coupled with their second life and final recycling.
The main goal is to “step up energy density, efficiency, durability and safety while cutting battery costs with a view to sustainability and the circular economy,” says Albert Martínez, a researcher in Eurecat’s Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact Unit.
This is the case of the European MARBEL project, coordinated by Eurecat, which has an €11.7 million budget to drive sustainability in battery manufacture and unlock “a circular model which includes eco-design and modularity for greater and better reuse and recycling” so as to “reduce environmental footprint and also help maintain the value of the materials and optimise the service life of the components,” adds Violeta Vargas, also a researcher in Eurecat’s Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact Unit.
The project seeks to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of the innovative solutions it has developed. They include lightweight and recyclable materials such as aluminium alloys containing up to 60 percent recycled aluminium, non-welded connections and a design which simplifies component disassembly, repair and reuse for a second life.
The modularity and ease of disassembly furnished by the design “facilitates replacement and repair of individual parts and components and their transition to second-life uses, thus extending the service life of the battery components and preventing the premature replacement of entire batteries,” notes Eduard Piqueras, head of European Programmes at Eurecat and MARBEL’s coordinator.
MARBEL is also helping in the transition towards a more sustainable and electrified future for the automotive industry through lighter and more competitive batteries with higher energy density and shorter charging times which are also more sustainable, efficient and have a longer lifespan.
To explore this area in greater depth, the Battery Innovation Days also featured a talk by Albert Martínez, a researcher in Eurecat’s Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact Unit, entitled “Investment and capacity for battery recycling: circular economy in lithium-ion batteries”.
The Battery Innovation Days are the meeting point where policymakers, the research community and leading industry players discuss the future of battery R&D in Europe.
