Decarbonising Transport Part 1

Electric Vehicle battery recycling
Li-Ion Battery Recycling

Safe & Sustainable Electric Vehicle (EV) Battery Recycling

Hit play and listen in as this episode of 'Ask The Expert' focuses on EV battery recycling. As more and more drivers make the switch to EVs, finding sustainable solutions for recycling end-of-life batteries is key.

 

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In the first part of our Decarbonising Transport series, David Reynolds from Veolia UK joins us to talk about our new Minworth battery recycling facility.

 

Did you know that by 2025, one million EVs will be purchased annually in the UK, and by 2040, this is expected to be in excess of two million? This is forecast to result in around 350,000 tonnes of end-of-life EV batteries being produced annually in the UK.

It's therefore crucial that these batteries are recycled, to preserve resources and ensure safe disposal. Our new battery recycling facility in Minworth, West Midlands, will be able to recycle EV batteries and extract the metals they contain for reuse. Tune in to find out more.
 

Decarbonising Transport: Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling - Transcription

00:00:01:01 - 00:00:28:02

Speaker 1

Good afternoon, everyone. Hopefully you can all hear me. My name is Martyn Fuller and I am the head of marketing proposals and Responsible Business here at Veolia. When I'm not doing this, this is today's LinkedIn Live. And I'm hoping that you're going to enjoy and spend at least 30 minutes with us talking about the issue. It's the first of a two part LinkedIn live session, and I'll be joined shortly by my colleague David Reynolds.

 

00:00:28:12 - 00:00:56:13

Speaker 1

And I'll ask David to introduce himself in a moment. But first, let's set the scene. The RBC suggests that there are currently 456,000 electric vehicles on the UK roads. They estimate that in terms of electric vehicles, we're going to see an increase in the availability of brands and types of electric vehicles from around 70 today to around 300 by the end of 2023.

 

00:00:57:03 - 00:01:24:06

Speaker 1

It's reckoned by 2025 that your range of choice in terms of electric vehicles will be the diesel, the unleaded, the hybrid, the plug in hybrid and the electric. And the cheapest of those choices will be the electric that those numbers and those statistics, though, are dwarfed when we consider the electric vehicles that are used in fleets, in operations.

 

00:01:24:16 - 00:01:37:05

Speaker 1

Amazon alone has ordered 10,000 electric vehicles. That's an immense number. And all of these electric vehicles are going to make a difference in decarbonizing our transportation.

 

00:01:39:06 - 00:02:09:11

Speaker 1

It's going to have a big impact. Electric vehicles, it's well known that their carbon footprint at the moment they roll off the production line is higher than that of an internal combustion engine. From then on, it only reduces. Typically now the estimate is that an electric vehicle is net zero within 18 months. Beyond that, it's all upside and with some of the earliest electric vehicle batteries now on, they're half a million miles.

 

00:02:10:10 - 00:02:32:04

Speaker 1

These electric vehicle batteries last a long time and they get a second life. They get a job in retirement as battery storage. There is an awful lot of use and innovation taking place in the marketplace in what you can do with an electric vehicle battery when it's no longer in its first electric vehicle. But we have to look beyond that.

 

00:02:32:07 - 00:02:52:05

Speaker 1

If this is going to be a truly environmental solution, we have to look at understanding how we can recycle electric vehicle batteries because not all of them are going to make it half million miles. So I might not even get out of the factory. David, you're the man who has the answers to the questions. I'm going to ask about that, because how does that work?

 

00:02:52:05 - 00:02:54:22

Speaker 1

So, David, would you like to introduce yourself, my friend?

 

00:02:55:15 - 00:03:29:05

Speaker 2

Yes, I'm David Reynolds. I'm the business manager in the UK for battery recycling for Veolia. And I have worked for Veolia with a although with a short break for nearly 30 years now. And I recently returned to help Veolia with their efforts in the battery recycling world. I got involved more in batteries in 2011, and I think since then I've never had a day where I've probably not used the word battery or batteries for my for my since.

 

00:03:29:05 - 00:03:31:14

Speaker 2

As many people who know me will know.

 

00:03:33:09 - 00:03:58:01

Speaker 1

Great. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, David. And I'm loving the background. Thank you. I'm particularly keen on that one. I mentioned just that nearly half a million electric vehicles on UK roads alone. Each one of those vehicles has a battery in it. But how are we going to make sure that those batteries in those vehicles are part of the circular economy when they reach the end of their life?

 

00:03:58:08 - 00:04:29:02

Speaker 2

So recently I got invited to an event which hasn't happened yet, but that was about talking about electric vehicle battery recycling being greenwashing, which I took offence to on the basis that it isn't it isn't greenwashing. But as you've alluded to, this is a growing area and they're rapidly growing. And I think it's very important that recyclers such as ourselves build their facilities to meet demand.

 

00:04:29:24 - 00:04:50:03

Speaker 2

It would do nobody any favours for us to build a facility that was then sitting there waiting for a few years for batteries to come off the market. So I think the market is responding as it should. And again, there seems to be lots of articles around about the recent capacity to recycle TV batteries. But it is growing.

 

00:04:50:03 - 00:04:58:07

Speaker 2

It is growing rapidly. And Veolia is part of that as part of that solution.

 

00:04:58:07 - 00:05:26:01

Speaker 1

Fabulous. And it's I guess it's so surprising that an industry springing up around this, you know, right the way from the infrastructure around charging these vehicles into this infrastructure that's going to be so vital to making sure this isn't greenwash and I'm surprised anybody is alive. That said, it was greenwash to you, my friend.

 

00:05:26:01 - 00:05:28:05

Speaker 2

They just did it. They just needed educating.

 

00:05:28:05 - 00:05:50:10

Speaker 1

That was it? Yeah. Just just a little education. That's it. That's a good way of putting it. Batteries. You know, you've been Mr. Battery for a long time. You've been Mr. Battery for certainly as long as I know an electric vehicle. Are they the same as the double AA batteries that I've got in the remote control home that we can never find?

 

00:05:50:18 - 00:06:02:08

Speaker 1

Are they the same as the little pedal batteries that are impossible to get the right size? I must buy at least three attempts from the supermarket before I get the right size or the scales or whatever is. I'm trying to.

 

00:06:02:08 - 00:06:32:09

Speaker 2

Hit. Yes. So not all batteries are made the same and they have some different challenges with them. Again, I've been fortunate or fortunate enough over the years to work with many different types of batteries of many different types of chemistries. So if we start with LED acid batteries, the great thing about LED acid batteries is that they are a recycling success story and they've been recycled for many years.

 

00:06:32:09 - 00:06:56:18

Speaker 2

There's a very high collection rate and sometimes some people are so excited about recycling them, they actually take them without authorisation to get them recycled. Such is there. Such is their keenness to recycle those batteries. So, let us see. Such as the ones that you will find as the starter in your car is a recycling success story and has been for many years.

 

00:06:57:04 - 00:07:21:21

Speaker 2

Again, my involvement started in the battery recycling industry ten years ago and that was in reaction to the bringing out of our battery schemes, etc. and the collection of mixed batteries for recycling. So going back to your AA batteries are told that you can never find them well, you are never quite sure whether you've kept them, although they've run out of charge again.

 

00:07:21:21 - 00:07:44:07

Speaker 2

They are collected these days from all retailers. All major retailers are offering free battery type bucks at stores. And again, with those batteries, the first thing you need to do is sort them, which can be quite a challenge to sort them and take out the things which are old batteries, although you would be interested to know the type of things that people think is a good idea.

 

00:07:45:03 - 00:08:07:19

Speaker 2

But when you have only got two batteries, then the next step is to sort them into different chemistries, because those different chemistries have different metals in them and go to different recycling processes and they get split into those chemistries. The metals get recycled and reused. I would also add these two things. There's two safety messages.

 

00:08:07:20 - 00:08:38:15

Speaker 2

I'd like to get there. I said early regarding batteries and one is the danger presented by lithium coin cells to toddlers. And if you are not familiar with that, then please go on the roster website where you'll find lots of information about it. And then also and again, this is something close to our heart, as many other waste management companies, and that is handling your used batteries, especially lithium ion batteries correctly.

 

00:08:38:15 - 00:08:54:15

Speaker 2

So they don't cause fires later on in the recycling process. And again, that's even more important as we go through this incredibly dry spell at the moment that we the last thing we need any more any more fires.

 

00:08:56:00 - 00:09:26:16

Speaker 1

Dave, thanks for that. And I appreciate that. The two little warnings I saw and repeat them and we'll put some links in the comments section after we finish. Because I think your comment there regarding Tesla's and lithium ion batteries and exceptionally obviously the dry weather we've got at the moment and the issues we have with batteries composting in the back of vehicles, waste vehicles as they compacted and damaged is a real issue for the industry and for everyone.

 

00:09:26:18 - 00:10:01:09

Speaker 1

So appreciate your safety first attitude there. But it's the chemistry, isn't it? You talked about chemistry there. You talked about behind you there. I can see almost one of the three posters that were on my wall as a teenager. The periodic table was not surprising to some people but lithium and I don't know lithium is a highly reactive metal. I don't think you can actually get hold of lithium itself because it's so reactive and the exothermic reactions are an issue, I guess.

 

00:10:03:00 - 00:10:25:20

Speaker 1

But, you know, we're talking here about batteries. We wanted to know about these electric vehicle batteries and how they compare and contrast. So this is the recycling of an electric vehicle battery, the same as recycling. You know, you talk about the different chemistries. Is it the same as what we are talking about? Recycling, electric vehicle batteries?

 

00:10:26:11 - 00:10:52:23

Speaker 2

No, no, it's not. So the challenge with lithium ion batteries, as you just alluded to, is that they pack a lot of energy in a small in a small package and that stored energy. So even when you think your battery is dead, it's not dead. It still still has quite a bit of electrical punch. And that is an issue for those involved in recycling lithium ion batteries.

 

00:10:52:23 - 00:11:22:13

Speaker 2

So, for instance, lead acid batteries and alkaline batteries and nickel metal hydride batteries, they are shredded as they are. And the remaining electricity in them doesn't really cause a problem with lithium ion batteries. That remaining energy is a problem. And therefore, what we have to do, especially with EV batteries, but also sometimes with smaller, smaller lithium ion batteries, is we need to, first of all, discharge the energy from the battery.

 

00:11:22:20 - 00:11:43:13

Speaker 2

So we have specialist equipment that can allow us to do that. And that energy can also be put back to either our local or national grid. So we need to get the energy out of them. And then because of the way that battery packs are made up, so often battery packs are made of modules and then those modules are made of smaller cells.

 

00:11:43:24 - 00:12:12:20

Speaker 2

Then we need to dismantle those batteries into smaller packets so that we can recycle them safely. So our first step is to shred the batteries and it is still a challenge even when the battery has been discharged, there is still quite a bit of chemical energy trying to release itself during that process and therefore we have to have the right control measures in place during that process to prevent the risk from fire.

 

00:12:14:01 - 00:12:40:22

Speaker 1

So, yeah, I'm hearing that this is not as simple as the existing recycling structures and processes we've had in place for you led assets in nickels your household batteries. This is another step forward. You mentioned the word modules and cells there. Now, I'm not as bright as I look sometimes. What is that behind you?

 

00:12:41:19 - 00:12:42:17

Speaker 2

So so the.

 

00:12:42:18 - 00:12:43:05

Speaker 1

Example.

 

00:12:44:17 - 00:13:09:07

Speaker 2

The item behind me is not a rim of A4 wrapped in aluminium foil. It is actually a module. So that is a module that contains lots of individual lithium ion cells. And then you would have several of those modules or many of those modules combined together in a battery pack. And it is that battery pack that you would then have in an electric vehicle.

 

00:13:09:22 - 00:13:16:05

Speaker 2

So that is the item behind me. That is actually a module from an electric vehicle.

 

00:13:16:24 - 00:13:39:05

Speaker 1

Excellent. You know, you've all got to put trophies of you know, I think of them almost as a pottery owl. But if you want to think, yes, that's fine, I'm interested to take this a little bit further and just try to clarify this in my head. So when we talk about an electric vehicle battery, it's made up of modules.

 

00:13:39:09 - 00:14:00:09

Speaker 1

A number of modules inside those modules in cells inside those cells is where the chemistry takes place. When we're talking about recycling it, the first thing you said we have to do is discharge because of the power that's in there. Once it's discharged, it's just dismantled. And then shredding is like, am I getting the process if I'm going to do this myself?

 

00:14:01:05 - 00:14:30:12

Speaker 2

Yes, that's right. So the batteries have the remaining energy in them, the remaining electrical energy and the discharge. So we take them down to zero volts and then we dismantle the batteries into smaller modules or even cells depending on the type of construction. And then those batteries all fit into a shredder. So the first step is like a course read, and then that is followed by many other processes.

 

00:14:30:12 - 00:14:45:05

Speaker 2

But generally the next step is to get it to just a smaller, a smaller shredder size. And again, by May I have samples of shred, but they probably wouldn't mean a great deal if I weigh them in front of you on the camera. But the samples don't.

 

00:14:45:15 - 00:14:46:07

Speaker 1

Seems like yet.

 

00:14:46:23 - 00:15:05:11

Speaker 2

The samples. But I can. I can. So this is shred. So if you stick your lithium ion batteries after you've taken the energy out and you shred them, then you end up with something that looks like that hopefully doesn't. You can see that fabulous.

 

00:15:05:11 - 00:15:20:08

Speaker 1

Thanks. Yeah, I'm going to roll it back again. You talked about discharging it. How do you discharge a battery or is that a trade secret? Are these lessons different techniques and specialties? Is there old magic?

 

00:15:21:09 - 00:15:46:13

Speaker 2

Yeah, well, I'd call it magic. And again, many people that you speak to said that's very easy. It's very easy to discharge a battery. And again, there are load bank manufacturers out there. But again, load bank manufacturers often don't discharge batteries down to zero volts. So in the normal life of a battery, it might be being tested, it may be connected to a load bank, but we are taking it beyond that.

 

00:15:46:15 - 00:16:06:19

Speaker 2

And again, most batteries don't want to go down to zero volts because if you do, then it's very difficult to use them afterwards. So there's also a challenge. So you have something in a battery as well in an electric vehicle battery called the battery management system. And again, the battery management systems job is to try and protect the battery from being over discharged.

 

00:16:07:02 - 00:16:16:01

Speaker 2

So again, we have some challenges there because we actually want to discharge the battery beyond its normal usage and take it down to near zero.

 

00:16:17:02 - 00:16:39:18

Speaker 1

Fabulous. We've had several questions come in already, Dave, which I'm going to save up and ask you towards the end. Yeah, that's excellent. Obviously letting people know if they do want to ask questions they can ask in the chat and we will try to get to those questions if time allows good to move forward now. So we've got the battery shredded down, we've got some materials now.

 

00:16:40:05 - 00:16:49:09

Speaker 1

Those materials are now just a case of making new batteries. What can I do with the materials that I've recovered in the process so far?

 

00:16:50:10 - 00:17:22:05

Speaker 2

Yes. So the Veolia is what I what I should add is that, again, that shredding process the good thing is about Veolia is that we already are experience of of these shredding metal separation processes and hydrometallurgy within within Veolia. So for many years we've been operating a battery recycling facility in France. And more recently we have a facility in young men in China.

 

00:17:23:07 - 00:17:45:18

Speaker 2

So again, the great thing is in Veolia. And go back to your other point as well about the magic of discharges that we already have. Colleagues within Veolia who are doing this on a day to day basis. Going back to your question. The batteries sorry, the batteries that we shred. And then we have to separate the materials.

 

00:17:45:18 - 00:18:21:09

Speaker 2

And there's something lovingly called the black mass. I did want to have a conversation with Brian Cox about black mass versus black holes, but I didn't do that. It didn't tell me what I knew. It was me, it was me, it was me. It got him in the lift with a handful of batteries at the time. So those materials are separated and you end up with something called black masses of say that's a sample of black mass, which is a very fine black powder that has the metal salts in it and we're able to recover those metal salts using hydrometallurgy.

 

00:18:21:14 - 00:18:49:11

Speaker 2

So in effect, what that means is we dissolve the black mass in acid, we dissolve everything goop, and then we selectively bring metal salts back out of solution so we can take them away as a solid and then recover the metals in that way. And those metals could be used wherever there may be a use for them could lead the industry to cobalt nickel, manganese, copper, etc. They all have other uses apart from electric vehicle batteries.

 

00:18:49:20 - 00:19:22:02

Speaker 2

But we're also quite keen to have a circular economy regarding electric vehicle batteries. And again, hopefully many of the people listening game will have seen that we announced a partnership almost a couple of years ago now with the Renault Group and Solvay, where were involved in trying to make sure that the black mass, the metals that were recovered from the black mass actually end up back in new electric vehicle, lithium ion batteries.

 

00:19:22:02 - 00:19:49:05

Speaker 1

Fabulous item, is it then? I'm trying to draw an analogy with all the recycling processes that I know of to create plastics. So obviously we can recycle plastics, but you have to have a certain quality, a certain standard to the material, raw material before it can be returned back into food grade. Is that a similar sort of thing? Does the purity of the elemental substances that we cover have to be high?

 

00:19:49:12 - 00:20:15:00

Speaker 2

Yes. So there are some challenges with the materials that you recover. And yes, purity is one of them. But I think also and again, I'm still finding out more about black mass, black mass every day. But I also understand that it's also getting the right crystal structure. So it's not just getting the right salt, it's that you've got the salt in the right form without the impurities.

 

00:20:15:00 - 00:20:30:03

Speaker 2

Because, again, as we've said, lithium ion batteries can be quite energetic. And you don't need you don't need impurities in those cathode powders to quit because of new problems later on.

 

00:20:31:02 - 00:20:58:02

Speaker 1

And imagine there's actually been a question asked around the safety of black mass. And I don't know whether you can just maybe comment briefly or it's something that we can pick up and talk about, respond to that because you ask the question offline, but regarding fluorine hydrochloride, nickel, cobalt, lithium, they've all got different safety implications. So this is I'm imagining all this process has to be done in a very controlled and safe process.

 

00:20:58:02 - 00:20:59:07

Speaker 1

Yes, you can do it as yet.

 

00:21:00:03 - 00:21:29:18

Speaker 2

No. And again, that's one of the challenges of the recycling process. And using your plastic analogy, it probably brings a few more risks than recycling something like polypropylene or PBT so that there are more challenges. There is no doubt that you need more controls in place to control hazards from things like IGF, etc.. And yes, nickel and cobalt have certain hazards as metals or metal salts.

 

00:21:30:02 - 00:21:48:14

Speaker 2

So yes, we have lots of control measures in place. But as I say, the good thing is that we already have colleagues within Veolia doing this process on a day to day basis currently. So they can help us with and hopefully we can build on that experience to make things even better and safer.

 

00:21:48:14 - 00:22:13:14

Speaker 2

But, yes, there's no doubt that shredding the battery in the first place well, discharging the battery in the first place has its challenges. Dismantling the battery has its challenges, shredding the battery has its challenges. But even when you strategically separate the material, you're not left with fully non-hazardous materials. But again, within Veolia, as you'll know globally, we are used to dealing with hazardous waste.

 

00:22:13:14 - 00:22:25:05

Speaker 2

We deal with flammable liquids, extreme liquids, we deal with toxic substances. So we are quite use in set up to handling materials that that bring us these additional challenges.

 

00:22:25:23 - 00:22:50:17

Speaker 1

I couldn't agree more. One of the benefits of the group is that experience, that knowledge, and the safety elements. I'm going to move on with a few more of the standard questions before I go to the chat. But we sort of hinted at it there. You know, we talk that we've had the facility in France, we've got a facility over in China.

 

00:22:51:01 - 00:23:17:18

Speaker 1

We've got a facility which you're sitting in right now in the UK. We've learned a lot. I think the market, the industry, let's not keep this to reality. This is, you know, bigger than that. There's been a lot of progress made recycling batteries, if you got any comments on that and how do you know if this is us there?

 

00:23:17:18 - 00:23:22:11

Speaker 1

Do we know the answer to everything yet or is there still more to learn? Perhaps?

 

00:23:22:11 - 00:23:44:20

Speaker 2

I think I think there's always. Every day is a school day, as many of us know, especially those who work in the waste management industry. Yes, there is more to learn. As you alluded to earlier, some of the earlier batteries are coming off the market now. But again, battery technology doesn't stand still. There's a continual drive for better energy densities, lower cost use of different metals, etc..

 

00:23:44:20 - 00:24:05:01

Speaker 2

So again, there are many different types of batteries on the market now. And some of them, as you alluded to earlier, may come off earlier in their life than expected due to mishaps. So there is still plenty that is still plenty to learn in this industry. I should probably also add as well because you refer to Middle-Earth.

 

00:24:05:07 - 00:24:29:06

Speaker 2

So yes, I'm sitting in the battery recycling nerve centre of Veolia. So I mean, with sites. And I should add that the beauty of the memorial site is that historically this was a hazardous waste treatment facility and so it was permitted to handle hazardous waste. But a few years ago, we had the foresight to change the permit to.

 

00:24:29:09 - 00:24:58:23

Speaker 2

So although the site wasn't operating, we had the foresight to change the permit to allow us to recycle batteries so that as we know as a strategically, the earliest moving into this globally for the UK, it was a great opportunity to quickly move into this space. And so we already had the permits. So we worked with the Environment Agency on our fire prevention plan to get that approved.

 

00:24:59:17 - 00:25:15:09

Speaker 2

Some people on the call will also know what I am so in an ADI, so we have to become those. And again you'll see us on the public register now. So it's been I've only been back in business for probably five months, but it feels like I've been here for about five years. But there's a lot going on.

 

00:25:15:09 - 00:25:22:05

Speaker 2

We've made some good progress and again, I'm pleased to say it made us where we were open to take batteries as of September.

 

00:25:23:19 - 00:25:47:01

Speaker 1

Fabulous days and that's good news. I'm sure there'll be people wanting to talk to you, if not already talking in conversations with you. And again, there's a link that will be in the comments for this extinction in life that will drive people towards where they can make inquiries about filling up the capacity there. But from what I've heard, this is already pre-booked.

 

00:25:47:01 - 00:26:02:01

Speaker 1

It's like a really good holiday. It's already a cruise ship that has already pre-booked. It's only a few chalets left. What's next for electric vehicle batteries and what's next for the menu as well? What's going to happen for you? What are your plans?

 

00:26:02:07 - 00:26:26:02

Speaker 2

Yes. So initially, we are discharging and dismantling batteries and we will be shipping the outputs of that. So we'll recycle some materials in the UK, but some of the cells or modules will be shipped to our colleagues in France. And again, to start with, there are carbon and water benefits and financial benefits to doing that in the UK.

 

00:26:26:02 - 00:26:56:17

Speaker 2

Our plan also is to quickly move into shredding batteries because again there is carbon water and financial savings with that additional step. So we're going to be working with our colleagues from France and China to design our facility again. The Mean Worth site is quite a large site. We have quite a large building and there's great capacity there for us to expand our activities to include those additional steps.

 

00:26:57:04 - 00:27:24:10

Speaker 2

And then as the market expands in the UK, we will probably use a hub and spoke method whereby we could, we could be discharging, dismantling batteries in Scotland and other facilities on the south coast and then those modules etc. may be coming to the Midwest for subsequent shredding. So it's a very exciting opportunity to be involved with reality.

 

00:27:24:10 - 00:27:47:21

Speaker 2

We have global discussions with our colleagues. There's lots going on. As I say, we already do it in France and China and it's great that the UK is now the third, the third site where the third country where values actually is now is now doing this as they move towards those activities around the Globe Day.

 

00:27:47:21 - 00:28:12:00

Speaker 1

Thanks very much. Thanks for answering my questions. There's a couple more that I've picked up in the chat that I want to ask you, if I may. Yeah, sure. You can feel free to pass. You have us you can phone a friend or you go 50, 50, just do my audition tape. Now, for my next career, I want to ask somebody just a question.

 

00:28:12:00 - 00:28:27:21

Speaker 1

Here it began with this charging, unless asking you is actively taking it to zero volts or zero kilowatts. I guess that's that I should have paid more attention in physics between what's been a bolt and kilowatt, but I'm guessing there is one.

 

00:28:29:08 - 00:28:49:14

Speaker 2

I believe there's an equation that joins them. We'll be working on taking the battery to zero volts. Again, I'm a chemist, not a physicist, but I have some understanding of electricity, but we'll be taking that to zero volts. Thanks. So that's the measurement that we will be using with our discharge equipment.

 

00:28:50:23 - 00:28:56:05

Speaker 1

Excellent. Thank you very much. Would you like to ask another question?

 

00:28:56:17 - 00:28:57:06

Speaker 2

Yeah, sure.

 

00:28:58:06 - 00:29:01:03

Speaker 1

Okay. You know, this is double or nothing like this.

 

00:29:01:05 - 00:29:07:12

Speaker 2

I've been told by batteries for 11 years every day. So this is a busman's holiday to me.

 

00:29:07:23 - 00:29:12:15

Speaker 1

Okay. So are there any parts of the battery that cannot be recycled?

 

00:29:13:19 - 00:29:36:00

Speaker 2

I think the one challenging area is probably the plastics. Again, there's this project going on. So the plastics could be a challenge. Again, as many of us as many of those who are involved in plastic recycling, they can be quite mixtures, the chemicals attached to them that can be difficult to separate.

 

00:29:36:11 - 00:29:55:08

Speaker 2

And so again, with some of these things, it's that trade off. It's like in my experience, my answer to recycling something is that you can recycle anything, but it comes down to is that a carbon? Like what is the carbon balance when you do it? What is the water balance when you do it, and what is the financial balance when you do it?

 

00:29:55:22 - 00:30:21:03

Speaker 2

And I think at the moment, those plastics that come out of electric vehicle batteries probably sit in that category where the balance is probably. Do you follow the way? Again, that can change markets and technology changes. And again, as more and more batteries are being recycled to be more of this material and there'll be additional business cases for putting more technology into perhaps the recycling of the.

 

00:30:21:17 - 00:31:01:00

Speaker 1

I like the film to this day, taking us over the top and going forward with it. So thank you very much for your time. I'm not going to ask you any more questions. You've passed. Congratulations. I'm thrilled to say that like you, it's been a great insight into what is a very interesting topic and one that is a lot more complicated, I think, than I first assumed understood ending now about discharging, dismantling the shredding, the processing and the fact that it's a very complicated scenario that needs to be taken place in order to create that urban mind.

 

00:31:01:03 - 00:31:22:20

Speaker 1

I can see the image of behind you we've asked and we're going to pull into the comment section not only just for your questions, but if you want to find any of the links to the two elements that David talked about in terms of safety for Prosper and for battery caused fires, we will give some links to that piece.

 

00:31:23:08 - 00:31:41:01

Speaker 1

We'll also be sharing some form for you to fill in if you want any more interest in any more information on this. So please do that. While today we've been talking about recycling the batteries for electric vehicles and our next link in life, we're going to be discussing the impact these vehicles can have when you start to introduce them to your fleet.

 

00:31:42:06 - 00:32:01:02

Speaker 1

I'd like to invite you all to join me on Tuesday, the 23rd of August, when I'm going to be joined by guest speakers from both Veolia and Westminster City Council. And we're going to talk about electrification of the fleet in their area and the impact it's had. David, thank you for your time and good afternoon, everyone. I hope to see you again soon.

 

00:32:01:11 - 00:32:01:24

Speaker 2

I'll thank you.



 

Find Out More

Recycling electric car batteries, an ecological issue with a circular solution

With electric vehicles now outselling diesel ones, ensuring stable access to raw materials and delivering efficient recycling of EV batteries is a strategic challenge. 

EV batteries are much more difficult to recycle than traditional lead-acid batteries due to their make up of hundreds of lithium-ion cells, requiring dedicated expertise to treat. At Veolia, we will provide this expertise on a mass scale at our new battery recycling facility in Minworth, West Midlands, which will have the capacity to process 20% of the UK’s end-of-life EV batteries by 2024. Batteries will be discharged and dismantled at the site before the mechanical and chemical separation recycling processes are carried out, enabling the materials found within EV batteries to be reused.

Li-Ion Battery Recycling

What are the environmental benefits of EV battery recycling?

Recovering lithium along with metals such as copper and aluminium from EV batteries, will cut greenhouse gas emissions from battery production by 50%. It will also drastically reduce water consumption, as it is estimated that 50,000 gallons of water are required to extract one tonne of lithium using traditional mining processes. The recovery and reuse of metals from EV batteries (along with other electrical waste) is known as 'urban mining', a phenomenon that is growing in popularity due to the crucial role it can play in the circular economy. It reduces both the amount of waste created and the amount of raw materials we need to use, both of which are critical as the demand for these metals continues to increase. Only through the continued development of new technologies will we be able to meet evolving recycling and recovery needs, and urban mining could be the answer to electric vehicles' end-of-life challenges.

Veolia Li-Ion Battery Recycling Services

Veolia’s Li-ion Battery Recycling Services provide customer access to the latest technologies, ensuring that obsolete Li-ion batteries are recycled safely and efficiently at our battery recycling facilities.

Veolia Minworth Battery Recycling Facility

Veolia’s permitted and licensed battery recycling facility in Minworth in the UK can arrange for the safe collection and recycling of your end-of-life Li-ion batteries.

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