Imagine a smart robot that can take apart old electric car batteries and decide which parts are still good enough to be used in home energy storage. For the parts that are truly worn out, the system uses a clean process to extract the raw metals and minerals. It's like a high-tech sorting center that turns battery waste back into brand new battery ingredients.
Europe relies heavily on imports for battery raw materials, which are expensive and environmentally damaging to extract. There is currently a lack of automated, cost-effective ways to dismantle and recycle end-of-life batteries at scale.
A robotic sorting and dismantling system with a digital twin for autonomous classification of batteries, and a chemical recycling route for recovering cathode and anode materials.
If you are an EV manufacturer dealing with the growing volume of end-of-life batteries — this project developed an automated dismantling and sorting system that allows you to recover high-performance cathodic and anodic materials to reduce import dependency.
If you are a stationary battery provider dealing with high raw material costs — this project developed a way to reassemble working modules from old EV batteries into new repurposed batteries for second-life energy storage systems.
If you are a recycler dealing with inefficient manual dismantling — this project developed a robotic system with a digital twin and cognitive agent that automates the classification and pre-treatment of battery materials.
The project aims to produce high-performance cathodic and anodic materials at competitive costs through a circular recycling route. Based on available project data, it focuses on low-cost and environmentally friendly technologies to reduce reliance on expensive imports.
The project is designed to demonstrate these routes in an industrially relevant environment. Current progress includes the completion of robotic system adaptation and validation of operational scenarios via a digital twin.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned, but the project involves 9 industrial partners who are qualifying the products for end-use.
It supports the EU Commission's 2030 vision to make Europe the first recycler of LIB raw materials. It focuses on closing the loop for critical raw materials to increase independence from foreign suppliers.
The project period runs from 2022-09-01 to 2026-08-31, suggesting that full industrial demonstration will be finalized by August 2026.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven, with 9 industrial partners (53% of the total) and 4 SMEs, indicating a strong focus on commercial viability. With 17 partners across 9 countries, the project leverages a broad European network of 4 universities and 4 research centers to bridge the gap between lab-scale recycling and industrial application.
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