18-07-2022
The European project of innovative recycling RELiEF, of which NOVA School of Science and Technology is a partner, officially started last July 15th. This project, to be developed by a consortium of 13 partners from seven European countries, intends to reduce lithium waste by more than 70% through the use of previously unused secondary lithium sources.
Funded through the European Union's Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, the project will receive €6 million over the next three years.
More than 90% of global production of lithium comes from four countries with deposits that are expected to be depleted by 2055. Effective reuse and recycling of the raw material is therefore paramount at all stages of the production and usage cycle to mitigate any possible future risks.
The project foresees the development of an integrated lithium recycling facility at a pilot plant in Belgium, where the RELiEF team will establish a process to produce battery materials from secondary sources and low-grade lithium, previously unrecycled.
The RELiEF consortium responsible for this new recycling process comprises small and medium-sized enterprises, non-profit Research and Technology organisations, universities and an associated industrial partner from Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Portugal, Romania and the Netherlands.
