How innovative tech start-ups make circular batteries possible

Battery recycling is still in an infant phase. Currently most batteries are burned in 1400 degree Celcius hot ovens at the end of life. Most Lithium is lost, same goes for Graphite and other materials. Merely Cobalt and Nickel are recovered, at high energy invests, though. And at high costs, end-of-life batteries are a liability not an asset, these days. Also, very few batteries go into 2nd life, opportunities are hardly understood.

Now there is a new generation of tech start-ups on stage that comes with a mission to change this. Improve lifetimes of batteries. Get to meaningful 2nd life. Recover all battery materials at low costs. We talk with tozero (battery shredding & hydrometallurgy), Circuli-ion (semi-automatic battery disassembly), Bavertis (battery life extension) and LiBcycle (reverse logistics for batteries) about their crucial role in developing and establishing future-relevant circular battery value networks. With their new technological approaches, they address the breaks in today's linear system and can thus help to close the loop.