Nottingham Trent University is playing a part in a £4.5m research project to establish a process to recycle or reuse electric vehicle batteries.
A £582,000 grant has been awarded to the university’s Advanced Design and Manufacturing Engineering Centre (ADMEC) as part of the European-wide REBELION project, which looks to give used electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries a second life or recycle them in a more efficient way.
The project – which is supported by the European Horizon programme and incorporates 11 organisations from across Europe – will also aim to establish how recycling electric vehicle batteries could create a major source of lithium-ion on the continent.
The NTU team will develop the information communication technology (ICT) platform and infrastructure. The team will also develop methods in relation to traceability of batteries, digital battery passports, ecolabelling and the calculation of eco-cost and eco-savings.
Professor Daizhong Su, head of ADMEC said: “With the increased volume of electric vehicle batteries coming towards their end of life, it’s imperative that there’s a quick and accurate way to predict a battery’s future life in order to maximise second-life applications.
“Recycling is the most environmentally-friendly way to deal with batteries after their second life and has the potential to turn them into a major economic resource in Europe, with a value of up to £23bn per year, as the raw materials they contain can be used for further manufacturing.
“This is an exciting project which has the potential to make the electric vehicle industry even more sustainable and help prevent up to nine million tons of battery waste per year going to landfill by 2040. We look forward to working with our partners to help create sustainable solutions for many of the future challenges of the electric vehicle industry.”
Partners in the project include Universitat Politechnica de Valenica, Accurec-Recycling, Sig de Raee Y Pilas Sociedad Limitada, Ona Product SL, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, University of Birmingham, Fondazione Icons, Erion Energy, Erion Compliance Organization Scarl and Volkswagen Group Italia SPA.
Source : https://www.insidermedia.com/news/midlands/ntu-to-contribute-to-ev-battery-recycling-project
