Eramet inaugurated a pilot plant at its research and innovation centre close to Paris (Trappes) to test and optimise the production of battery-grade metal salts from black mass from recycled lithium-ion batteries. The facility is a 1:1,000 scale replica of the plant due to be built in Dunkirk, with start-up scheduled for 2027, subject to a final investment decision expected by the end of 2024.
The pilot plant is an important factor for the project carried out in partnership with SUEZ, aiming to offer a closed-loop industrial recycling solution for end-of-life batteries and scrap from the production of new batteries.
The press release stated that due to its expertise in hydrometallurgy, Eramet’s research and innovation centre has developed a process that can infinitely recycle more than 90% of the strategic metals (nickel, cobalt, lithium) contained in the blackmass of end-of-life batteries and in scrap from gigafactory production.
The high-purity metal salts obtained by this process and produced in Dunkirk will be used to supply the European electric battery industry, helping to reduce the continent’s dependence on the import of critical metals. The 800 m² pilot plant will be used to test and optimise the extraction and refining process for these metals on a pre-industrial scale, and to qualify the end products for future customers and partners. The project has received €80 million in financial support from the European Union’s Innovation Fund and BPI France.
“After developing one of the most efficient direct lithium extraction technologies in the world, our Research and Innovation Centre is once again demonstrating its excellence and expertise in the hydrometallurgy of critical metals. This technological advance positions us, with our partner SUEZ, as tomorrow’s leaders in the recovery of “urban mines”, the millions of electric batteries that need to be recycled and recovered in Europe,” commented Christel Bories, Chairman and CEO of Eramet.
