RECYCLING ALKALINE BATTERIES INTO MICRONUTRIENT FERTILIZER

Project Information

RENUTRI

Grant agreement ID: 827310

DOI

10.3030/827310

Project closed

EC signature date 3 August 2018

Start date 1 September 2018

End date 30 November 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

TRACEGROW OY
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RENUTRI (RECYCLING ALKALINE BATTERIES INTO MICRONUTRIENT FERTILIZER)

Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2018-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Alkaline battery recycling plants are working at maximum capacity and cannot cope with increasing demand. Safety issues, vast energy consumption and high process temperatures make smelting plants a dangerous and outdated technology. Battery manufacturers have produced over 10 billion alkaline batteries and the amount of waste batteries increases at six percent annually. A converging problem is that farm lands and food plants globally suffer from micronutrient deficiency. Fifty-one percent of the cereal soils worldwide are deficient in zinc and manganese. Micronutrient deficiencies in farm lands have consequences for crop yields, and direct consequences on people’s health.
Tracegrow Oy is a Finnish clean tech company which is the first in the world to develop cost-efficient technology to recover, purify and reuse vital metals from used alkaline batteries and safely recycle them in the form of micronutrient fertilizer. The objectives of the RENUTRI feasibility study are to validate the company’s potential for international expansion and to gather the requirements for building a niche market in recycling used minerals into ecological micronutrient fertilizers. The conclusions of the action identify the critical success factors, risks and the required resources for attaining a successful implementation of scaling the company’s business concept for international expansion.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The feasibility study concentrates on three areas: distribution channel, operational ramp-up, and IPR/regulatory management. Analysis of these areas and relevant conclusions have been used to create the company’s commercialisation road map. The study’s results have been applied to the marketing strategy, design of the production platform, financial projections, competitor benchmarking and the company’s business plan to support its international go-to-market plans.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Tracegrow innovated its method for chemical processing of used alkaline batteries at a fraction of energy consumption and at lower required initial capital investments compared to current smelter technology. Its more advanced technology doubles the recovery rate of zinc and manganese. Every kilogram recovered represents the amount of non-recycled metals that do not end-up in landfills, and consequently pollute soil and water.
The company tested its micronutrient fertilizer during field trials in Finland, Germany, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Chile and the USA. Resulting yields from the tests were above average in 80% of test cases, with an average 8.3% increase in yield.
The company expects its technology to contribute to producing 375 tonnes of zinc and 475 tonnes of manganese per year while reducing the carbon footprint related to this production. The company’s expansion actions also impact the EU economy via creation of directly and indirectly related jobs.

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