Spain makes its debut in lithium battery recycling market to extract valuable metals

Last year, some 9,200 tonnes of batteries were collected in Spain. Almost a decade ago, this figure was barely two and a half tonnes. Society is generating more and more of this type of waste. It is expected to grow even more, above all, due to the expansion of electrified transport. Recent data show that vehicle batteries accounted for 15% of all waste collected at authorised collection points. It is by far the fastest growing segment. Mostly batteries from cars, but also batteries from motorbikes, bicycles and scooters have been discarded - 54% more batteries in a single year amounting to 115 tonnes. Of the remaining, unusable units collected, 44% were of industrial origin and 40% were for portable use (mobile phones and computers).

Bearing in mind all these figures collated by Ecopilas - the foundation dedicated to ensuring that such waste is properly collected and recycled in Spain - the inevitable question is: what is to be done with all this waste as it is also toxic waste? The short answer is: export it to other European countries for treatment because there is no adequate infrastructure here to do so on a large scale. However, this is about to change.

Spain has just taken the first step towards recycling lithium batteries. This move complies with the European regulations that, since last year, have made it compulsory to treat this waste and reuse it as much as possible.

Endesa and Urbaser joined forces two years ago to announce the creation of a company dedicated to this task, Novolitio. Now, they have announced that the first phase of recycling activity, the collection and compilation of lithium batteries, has begun.

As the two companies explain, until now this waste has been collected by authorised waste management centres and transporters and then stored in transfer centres, finally to be exported to treatment plants mainly located in France and Germany.

The aim of this new company is to break this dynamic and treat up to 25,000 tonnes of batteries per year in a specialised plant on Spanish soil. This figure responds to the expected exponential growth in the use of these products.

Antonio Massot, project manager at Novolitio, provides a figure that illustrates the point: "Last year, approximately 40,000 tonnes of them were placed on the Spanish market in their different formats and uses." It gives an idea of how much need there is for this. In short, the recycling industry in Spain, already mandatory by law, can grow.

The future plant, therefore, is designed to be able to handle all types of lithium batteries: from the largest batteries, including all industrial and automotive batteries. to the smallest such as those in laptops and mobiles. However, the plant will have to wait for at least another couple of years. For now, the project is awaiting the relevant permits to begin construction on a 15,000 square metre industrial plot located in Cubillos del Sil (León).

"Depending on the permits, we expect work to start at the end of 2025 or early 2026," Massot said, adding that it will be carried out within an already well-established industrial estate where all environmental requirements are met.

Regarding the reception from local residents, the company points out that it will create "quality employment", 49 direct jobs once fully operational. "We have been pleasantly surprised by the number of enquiries from people in the area interested in being part of Novolitio," said the project manager.

When this time comes one of the most strategically important tasks will be carried out. That is, the recovery of all those critical minerals, which are so hard to extract from the earth, or are so very rare or they need importing from economically-dominant countries like China, and which can be reused in the manufacture of more batteries. There is a mini goldmine in every battery, and such recycling plants will make it easier to give these vital minerals an almost infinite life.

Therefore, the new facility will carry out sorting and diagnostic processes on those items whose useful life has ended in order to discern which can be reused as is (after some reconditioning) and which need to be recycled. As the company says, reuse is the top priority so that those batteries, once reconditioned, can return to the market and have a longer useful life once more.

Here, Massot makes a distinction between battery types, as the plant will also be made ready to handle the popular small lithium batteries. "All small-format batteries will undergo a recycling process, as it is not feasible to reuse them once they have reached the end of their useful life, while large-format batteries, depending on their condition and the analysis we will carry out at our facilities, can be reused."

He goes on: "although reuse is a priority objective as it is environmentally better, it will depend on the type of batteries we end up receiving, what condition they're in, as well as the second life market that is currently being developed." All batteries will be reusable or recyclable, and only a meagre 10% of materials (leftover components resulting from treatment) will be sent to authorised waste management centres for disposal.

As a result, 90% of a battery's components can be reused in some way. After a separation process that might involve shredding, heat treatment or even grinding, it is possible to recover the valuable black mass, a powder with a high content of strategic metals (nickel, cobalt, lithium, possibly also manganese and copper), key to the manufacture of technologies for energy conversion such as solar panels. Up to 95% of these metals can be recovered after battery treatment.

Novolitio's project manager points out that the recycling of metals is not only a task worth doing for its value, but because it is also now a legal requirement. In the case of lithium, cobalt and nickel, they will be used for the production of new batteries. "The Novolitio plant will also extract any copper and aluminium, which can be put to different uses as they are widely-used industrial materials," Massot concludes.

The use of recycled metals significantly reduces the high carbon footprint for the manufacture of new batteries, which will be a major boost to the sustainability of the production, marketing and use of these strategic products.

The aforementioned European regulation, approved in July 2023, sets targets for European countries in terms of metal recovery and reuse. With regard to lithium recovery, it establishes that 50% of all lithium batteries should be being recovered by the end of 2027 and 80% by 2031, depending on technological advances and the availability of the element itself. There are also mandatory minimum levels of recycled content of 16% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 6% for lithium and 6% for nickel.