Inauguration of a huge battery recycling facility
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How to make electric batteries without losing mineral resources? Northvolt, a Swedish start-up, will in the coming weeks open its first super factory in Europe. A new experiment: recycling raw materials for car batteries.
From our correspondent in Stockholm,
Northvolt will produce its first battery cell based on fully recycled nickel-manganese cobalt, without compromising on performance.
It is less well known, but in addition to its battery plant, Northvolt has also built another plant to process old batteries, where it is estimated to have a capacity of 125,000 tons per year. Battery components are immersed in an aqueous solution to isolate the minerals and separate them from the contaminants. This process, according to Northvolt, can recycle up to 95% of a battery’s metals to a purity level equivalent to that of the original material.
So that’s good news, because access to these minerals and other rare earth metals is often a problem. Take cobalt for example, the largest producer in the world is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt is mined there under tragic social and environmental conditions, and China takes most of this production. So we have to find other solutions.
Strong mining capacity
And if Northvolt, despite being recycled, still needs cobalt, it can always turn to Sweden. Because the Scandinavian empire has a very important mining potential. Several cobalt deposits have been identified, especially in Bergslagen, near Stockholm. When it comes to graphite, another essential element, a Canadian company has a very advanced project in Woxna, 250 km north of the Swedish capital.
However, thinking about this offer is a strategic assignment for Northvolt, because unlike many of its competitors in Asia, who are not too careful about the origin of their raw materials, the Swedish company wants to control the entire chain, from extraction to recycling.
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