Battery composition: D6.1.1

Battery technology developments have progressed quickly and batteries have been employed for many types of applications: from small portable devices, such as mobiles and laptops containing batteries of maximum 300 grams, to electric vehicles and heavy duty applications holding batteries of several hundreds of kilograms. The demand for batteries as a result of the energy transition requires large amounts of materials; however, the European Union does not hold sufficient mines to meet this demand. Therefore, many initiatives for recycling of batteries have been announced to recover such critical materials from the European urban mine. The European Battery Regulation already set minimum recovery levels of certain elements contained in batteries, such as cobalt (85%), lead (6%), lithium (6%) and nickel (6%) from manufacturing and consumer waste to be reused in new batteries. The Netherlands and Dutch companies have addressed the urgency as well: the requirement of a battery value chain to secure battery materials and components needed for the energy transition in the Netherlands. In this regard, it is expected for the Dutch economy to be completely circular by 2050 and to reduce by half the consumption of primary raw materials on 2030. These goals are aligned to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.
One of the first steps to achieve a solid battery value chain is to do a technology assessment of both the battery technologies as well as the recycling technologies. This report gives an overview of the battery technologies with a specific focus on cathode active materials, now and in the future, and explores the impact of different battery chemistries on the recycling of the materials.
In the past decades, a wide variety of cathode active materials has been developed, mostly