PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Batteries are a critical part of the EU’s green transition and for achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
A key challenge is Europe’s dependence on natural graphite, essential for lithium-ion battery anodes, with 95% of the global supply sourced from China. The EU imports 98% of its graphite needs, a significant gap in the supply chain. The demand for graphite is expected to increase 25-fold by 2040 due to the growing need for electric vehicles (EVs) and grid storage. Although natural graphite is mined in Europe, amounts are not sufficient and limited by the EU’s refining capacity, most of which is still carried out in China. Synthetic graphite, another alternative, is expensive and environmentally harmful due to its energy-intensive production process.
To address these challenges, the EU aims to boost graphite recycling efforts. EU graphite recycling rates remain low, at an estimated 3%, and there are no existing facilities capable of producing the required purity level for new batteries, presenting a key challenge to the EU’s strategic autonomy and climate goals. However, recycled graphite has the potential to cover 10% of EU consumption by 2030. Regulatory initiatives such as the New Battery Regulation (2023) and the Critical Raw Materials Act (2023) support recycling and aim to increase recovery rates and reduce dependency on non-EU suppliers.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the LIFE GRAPhiREC project is to implement the EU’s first industrial pilot plants to close the circular economy loop for recycled graphite. The project aims to recover graphite from battery waste and re-use it to produce new lithium-ion (LIB) and alkaline (AB) batteries, employing a dry mechanical pre-treatment and hydrometallurgical treatment. The graphite is further processed and reused to manufacture new batteries.
The project plans the installation of 2 pilot plants at the ORIM site of Piediripa in Macerata and at the SIMA site of Fossacesia in Chieti, both in Italy. ORIM will recycle lithium-ferrous-phosphate (LFP) batteries to produce graphite for lithium-ion batteries (GLIB), and SIMA will recycle exhausted alkaline black mass to produce graphite for alkaline batteries (GAB).
RESULTS
The project’s expected results are detailed below.
- Recovery of 90% of graphite from battery waste, reaching 270 tonnes of GLIB and 360 tonnes of GAB by the end of the project, and reaching the maximum capacity of 900 tonnes per year of GLIB and 900 tonnes per year of GAB after 5 years of action.
- Projected purity levels of at least 99.95% for LIBs and 99.5% of purity for ABs.
- Testing, validation and production of battery prototypes of both lithium and alkaline and start batteries production for the market with a blend of at least 30% recycled graphite compared to commercial graphite.
- Production of 1 500 button cell prototypes for industry and 150 prototypes of 21 700 cells for electric vehicles using the GLIB.
- Production of 1.5 million LR6 batteries, AA size battery, using the GAB.
- Reduction of waste from the production of graphite from 13 992 tonnes to 9 503 tonnes, further decreasing to 435 tonnes over 5 years.
- Decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 10 406 to 8 376 tonnes by the project’s end and to 4 734 tonnes 5 years later.
- Limit in emissions of other harmful gases such as nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur oxide (SOx), and carbon monoxide (CO).
- Drop in energy consumption from 29.2 to 20.1 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year by the project's end, with further reductions to 2.4 GWh per year over 5 years.
- Reduction in water consumption from 50 686 to 34 843 cubic metres (m³) per year, reaching 3 366 m³ per year 5 years after the project concludes, while also improving water quality.
- Market assessment and the creation of two business plans to assess the sustainability of the LIB and AB business models, to ensure the project’s sustainability.
- Demonstration of cost-effective graphite recycling, revenue generation, savings and creation of new job opportunities.