Innovability: an industrial supply chain for battery recycling

When sustainability and circularity come together, it produces an opportunity for economic growth and a chance to make the world a better place to live. The supply chain for battery recycling is a great opportunity for Italy’s production sector.

This is the primary goal of the second IPCEI program (Important Project of Common European Interest), sponsored by the MiSE and approved by the European Commission. Enel X, in collaboration with Midac and Enea, joined the program with an industrial project for battery recycling: Marco Gazzino, Head of Innovability Enel X, discusses this in a video interview on the relationship between Enel X and the Italian supply chain.

Given current growth levels in the battery market, it is estimated that a volume of 60,000 tons of dead batteries a year will be available in Italy by 2030. With this in mind, Enel X is working, as part of the IPCEI program, on the development of the technologies, processes and logistics needed to develop the Italian supply chain for battery recycling.

Once the R&D stage is complete and the following testing is done, in collaboration with Midac and Enea, there will be an initial industrial development phase (First Industrial Deployment – FID), leading to the creation of the first line. The goal is to reach a full recycling capacity of 12,000 tons a year, a meaningful contribution to battery recycling.

The advantages for the environment are clear: above all, there would be an 85% reduction of each battery’s CO₂ footprint.

In Italy, there is a lack of significant mineral resources of nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium, which can be recovered from exhausted batteries. The Italian supply chain for battery recycling can become a sort of “mine” for these metals, helping overcome the limitations linked to their natural availability in our country.

A supply chain to lead to this process is a driving force for development and growth, both for large companies and small and medium Italian enterprises. Thanks to the IPCEI program, the latter will be able to improve their sustainability as well as market competitiveness.

With Enea (national agency for new technologies, energy, and sustainable economic development), Enel X is proposing wide-ranging projects concerning the automation of assembly systems for automotive battery packs and modules for stationary use, and optimized processes for the treatment, movement, and secure storage of massive volumes of batteries.

The other main partner for the IPCEI project, Midac, a leading company in Europe in battery production, will deal with the industrialization of its own and Enel X’s solutions.

Alongside these two partners, Enel X aims to lay the foundation for a virtuous circular supply chain: valuable and costly secondary raw materials will be re-introduced into the production cycle, contributing to the disposal of end-of-life packages while rounding out the battery life cycle in a circular way.