Another European Battery Recycler Sets up Recycling Operations in Norway Following Glencore's Battery Recycling Plant in the UK

SHANGHAI, May 31 (SMM) -

According to foreign media news, the European power battery recycling company Hydrovolt officially announced that its plant in Fredrikstad, Norway has begun commercial recycling operations.

In the announcement, Hydrovolt said that the new EV battery recycling plant will be able to process 12,000 mt (about 25,000 units) of used battery packs per year. With its advanced processes, the plant is able to recycle and separate 95% of the materials in the batteries, including plastic, copper, aluminium and black mass (containing nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium metals).

Hydrovolt is a joint venture between Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt and aluminium company Hydro. It also said in the announcement that the company is exploring the expansion of its recycling capacity across Europe, with a long-term goal of recycling around 70,000 mt of battery packs by 2025 and around 300,000 mt by 2030.

Peter Qvarfordt, the company's CEO, commented, "Hydrovolt is a milestone in Norway's progress towards universal electric mobility. Norway has been a world leader in the adoption of electric vehicles for many years, but what has been missing is the ability to recycle and to have a sustainable solution for battery scrap.”

Qvarfordt added, "Today, Hydrovolt is large enough to handle all the battery scrap in Norwegian, but we are now looking at scaling up to ensure we are ready for the increased demand that is coming.”

Emma Nehrenheim, Chief Environmental Officer at Northvolt, said, "From an environmental perspective, recycling battery scrap is the cornerstone of ensuring that the transition to vehicle electrification is truly successful.” And she emphasised that "there is a finite amount of metal used in battery production, and replacing mining with recycling of materials will not only reduce the carbon footprint of batteries, but may also lead to sustainable long-term use of lithium-ion battery technology." With the plant coming online, a sustainable solution can now be used to dispose of all electric vehicle batteries in Norway that have been retired from the market or are nearing end-of-life.

Battery recycling will directly contribute to the sustainability of the battery industry and is necessary to meet the European battery regulations, including the forthcoming mandatory recycling targets. Importantly, the recycling of black mass will reduce the reliance on mining as a major source of raw materials, with all the associated risks and vulnerabilities associated with it. The processing of black mass into usable battery-grade materials requires hydrometallurgy to extract the nickel, cobalt and lithium metal resources from the black mass in order to achieve sustainable use of the metal resources.