The EU is currently highly dependent on importing critical and strategic raw materials for battery production such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, natural graphite and silicon. The challenges associated with these dependencies are:
1. The sourcing of raw materials from third countries makes it difficult to guarantee that global human rights and health are upheld, and children are not exploited,
2. Europe can face long-term risks associated with disruptions in battery material supply chains, and
3. Importing materials from distant countries adds to GHG emissions and shipping-related costs.
The recycling and reuse of materials, coupled with the integration of novel, secondary sources with primary sources, can ensure sustainable economic development and European strategic autonomy.
In this context, the overall objective of STREAMS is to strengthen the domestic battery materials supply chain, reduce Europe’s dependency on imported raw materials supplies and increase its resilience, competitiveness and strategic autonomy in the global battery manufacturing industry. STREAMS does this by promoting and evaluates the utilisation of different streams of primary and secondary sources together with recycled battery mass. In addition, STREAMS will develop, evaluate and demonstrate a comprehensive portfolio of flexible and scalable technologies and solutions to sustainably produce battery-grade precursors and their respective anode and cathode active materials.
STREAMS has several specific objectives related to the integration of primary, secondary and battery mass sources of into the battery materials value chain. These are:
1. Mapping of underutilized primary, secondary and recycling resources. The primary sources are spodumene (source of Li) and natural graphite. Secondary sources are mining tailings (source of Co, Ni and Mn), Bayer cake (source of Li), photovoltaic waste (source of Si) and biochar (source of conductive additives). Battery black mass is also integrated into the mapping as a source of end-of-life cathode and anode active materials.
2. Designing, developing and demonstrating 5 innovative and sustainable technologies to produce cathode precursors from secondary sources such as mining tailings, Bayer cake, and battery black mass. These technologies are selective electrowinning, sustainable hydrometallurgy, supported liquid membranes, deep eutectic solvents, and electrochemical lithium recovery
3. Developing and demonstrating 2 technologies (spray drying and direct recycling) for the synthesis of cathode active materials.
4. Designing, developing and demonstrating technologies for the recovery, reconditioning and reuse of graphite anodes from end-of-life cells, the processing of biochar into a conductive additive, and the recovery of silicon from photovoltaic waste, and the production of Si/C composite anodes.
The technologies proposed by STREAMS have an initial TRL of 3 to 4 and will move to TRL 5 towards project completion
STREAMS also addresses circularity by:
1. Identifying potential weaknesses and barriers related to technical, economic, and environmental indicators within the processes.
2. Applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology toward assessing carbon footprints, water use, toxicity and resource depletion.
3. Applying Safe and Sustainable by Desing (SSbD) frameworks to the STREAMS technologies and
4. Performing social LCA to assess social impacts such as on human health and well-being.
Finally, STREAMS will communicate, disseminate, and exploits its results, and develop concrete plans for industry guidance pathways and technology upscaling and uptake.
