Bio-based solvent helping develop UK’s first industrial-scale car battery recycling project

Biotechnology company Circa Group, which produces bio-based solvent Cryene from waste cellulose, is participating in an innovative project aimed at developing the first IK industrial scale capability to reclaim and reuse the most valuable components of end-of-life electrical vehicle batteries.

The Reclamation and Remanufacture of Lithium Ion Batteries (R2LIB) project is funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Faraday Battery Challenge, an initiative aimed at developing cost-effective, high-performance, and recyclable automotive batteries.

According to the IEA, the global electric cars fleet exceeded 5.1 million in 2018 and is estimated to reach at least 130 million by 2030.

This exponential growth is expected to lead to several millions of tonnes of spent batteries in need of recycling over the next ten years or so.

R2LIB looks to tackle this challenge by establishing a UK supply chain for extracting and reprocessing high-value components from end of life batteries.

Circa’s solvent Cyrene is specifically being used to recover PVDF, a high-performance polymer widely used as a binder in Li-ion battery cathodes.

PVDF processing currently relies on the use of NMP, a reprotoxic solvent, which is under intense regulatory pressure, but by using Cyrene, R2LIB is helping recover a valuable polymer in a sustainable way.

As part of R2LIB, Circa is working with the University of York, and a number of other partners including M-Solv, ICoNIChem, PV3 Technologies, and WMG.

Dr Rob McElroy, from the University of York, said: “A wide range of solvents have been investigated for the dissolution of battery grade PVDF. Very few have proved able to dissolve this high molecular weight polymer, with Cyrene being one.”

“Early results looking at recovery from spent electrodes have indicated Cyrene’s unique properties are proving useful in separating PVDF from other black mass materials.”

Tony Duncan, CEO and co-founder of Circa Group, said: “We are proud of being part of a project looking to create a more sustainable automotive economy. Our bio-based solvent Cyrene is once again proving to be a high-performing and more sustainable alternative to traditional solvents.”