Recovering critical raw materials to promote sustainable battery manufacturing
M-BAT is a project funded by the Horizon Europe programme that will develop innovative solutions to recover critical raw materials essential for battery manufacturing, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite. These materials are fundamental to the energy transition and are used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
To this end, the project will develop and validate four technological processes capable of recovering these resources from secondary sources available in Europe, such as mining waste, industrial sludges, end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and mineral-rich geothermal waters. In this way, M-BAT will contribute to reducing European dependence on raw materials from non-EU countries and will promote the circular economy in the battery sector.
The technological processes will be tested in four pilot plants located in Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the recovered materials will be validated with sector users and specialised centres to ensure they meet the quality standards required by the battery industry. Throughout the project, environmental and social criteria will also be integrated into the process design, in order to maximise their sustainability and facilitate their future industrial deployment.
