Northvolt has partnered with Hydro to establish a first-of-its-kind battery recycling facility. The recycling plant will come online in 2021 in Fredrikstad, outside of Oslo. At commissioning, the Hydro Volt plant will have initial capacity to process more than 8,000 tonnes of batteries per year – roughly the equivalent of 23,000 moderately sized EV batteries. Northvolt is aiming for 50% recycled material in new cells by 2030.

Solar and Wind energy are growing at a truly astonishing pace on every continent. But in the race for global supremacy in the power generation sector have we neglected to consider how we will deal with millions of panels and turbines when they come to the end of their useful lives? Are we storing up yet another environmental problem?

Helen Czerski went to Wendeburg in Germany to see if it really is possible to recycle the materials in vehicle batteries. She shows how this new and rapidly growing industry is developing and coming up with some interesting results, with lithium-iron batteries being economically recycled up to 70% (91% including graphite). Please send this to all the people you know who say 'what about when we throw all these fancy batteries into landfill.

The RecycLiCo™ Patented Process is an Innovation of American Manganese Inc. – A Critical Metal Company Focused on Recycling Cathode Materials From Spent Lithium-ion Batteries.