Fraunhofer FFB built a tool to compare battery recycling routes

Fraunhofer FFB has built a calculation model for comparing battery recycling processes, a report says. The tool is meant for recycling companies, technology providers, and battery makers. It is designed to judge routes on both cost and environmental impact. The report does not give a public release date or a price.

The model breaks a recycling line into pieces. It splits the chain into areas, process steps, and technologies. A user can compare shredding methods, for example, and see how an early choice changes the quality of recovered material and the work required later. Users set material throughput and the makeup of the batteries, then assemble a process chain.

It ties material flows to cost and emissions. The report says the model follows material through the chain and links it to energy use, CO2, operating costs, investment costs, and revenue from recovered raw materials. It can also take in disposal costs, the regional electricity mix, labour costs, and how fully a plant is used. If throughput, separation efficiency, or a recovery rate changes, the tool shows the effect on later steps, costs, and emissions.

With this tool, we aim to make different recycling concepts comparable on a common basis and thereby create a robust foundation for technological and strategic decisions. That is from Benedikt Gruber, a research associate at Fraunhofer FFB, as quoted in the report. He said the model can be used to tune existing processes and to judge new technologies.

The tool came out of a consortium study. Partners included the recycling industry, plant engineering, and consulting. The report says the framework is set to add more battery chemistries, regional datasets, and regulatory scenarios. It does not name a customer or a plant already running the tool.