FREE4LIB

Development of technologies to achieve sustainable and efficient processes for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries.

The FREE4LIB project aims to develop 6 sustainable and efficient processes for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries at the end of their useful life, thanks to the creation of technologies with a technology readiness level (TRL) between 5 and 6.

These 6 processes are dismantling, pre-treatment and 4 other material recovery processes. All of them deliver highly innovative recycling solutions, reaching high efficiency in the recovery of materials and improving the supply of secondary resources at European Union level.

FREE4LIB will also offer technologies to improve 3 processes that aim at the reuse of metals and polymers and the synthesis of electrodes in the same value chain as secondary raw materials for the remanufacturing of greener batteries.

The project will also study options to harness non-reusable elements in other fields and will deliver a methodology based on Battery Passport principles to improve process traceability.

Eurecat participates in the FREE4LIB project through different Technology Units, in charge of different objectives:

• Robotics and Automation Unit. It will carry out studies on the automation of battery dismantling.

• Metals and Ceramic Materials Unit. It will do metal recovery work (aluminum and copper) for additive manufacturing applications, in addition to ion implantation and coatings on electrodes.

• Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact (WEEI) Unit. It will provide support in life cycle studies and will be in charge of the hydrometallurgical recycling study of cells, as well as their characterisation.

• Product Innovation and Multiphysics Simulation Unit. It will design 2nd life batteries for stationary energy storage use.

• IT&OT Security Unit. It will develop the battery passport.

• Big Data & Data Science Unit. It will develop the cloud data platform.

• Water, Air and Soil (WAS) Unit. It will analyse the dangers and operability of processes.

The FREE4LIB consortium is made up, in addition to Eurecat, of the CARTIF Foundation, ACCUREC, Aliénor, the Association for Research in Plastic and Related Materials (AIMPLAS), EUROBAT, AVL, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Erion Energy, Fraunhofer, the Energy Research Institute of Catalonia (IREC), the Bruno Kessler Foundation, the Institute for Transport and Logistics, UREDERRA, MOV’EO, NESSTEC Energy & Surface Technologies, Milan Polytechnic, RECYCLIA, Sakarya University, Torrecid, University of Graz, and Watt4Ever.