Progress and Achievements Y3

The RESPECT project continues to make substantial progress towards building a sustainable and circular battery ecosystem in Europe. Across all seven Work Packages (WPs), partners are developing and validating cutting-edge technologies for safe battery handling, efficient material recovery, and environmentally friendly recycling methods. Below are the latest project achievements over the past 12 months:

WP1: Battery supply & deactivation

WP1 has successfully completed all its objectives, marking a major milestone in ensuring the safe preparation of end-of-life (EoL) batteries. Laboratory-scale validation of battery deactivation was carried out across various EoL module types, optimising operational conditions by CEA. These conditions have since been transferred to ORANO, which will demonstrate the process at pilot scale at its Bessines-sur-Gartempe facilities.

On the logistics side, CEVA LOGISTICS prepared Deliverable D1.2 – Catalogue of Different Solutions Adapted to Logistics, offering regulatory guidance and risk-based recommendations for the safe and efficient transport of battery feedstock. These insights aim to streamline battery flows from gigafactories and waste providers to recyclers.

WP2: Pre-treatment for materials concentration: cutting and separation technologies

WP2 is focused on the development of innovative pre-treatment solutions critical for material concentration and recovery of Lithium-Ion batteries. Recently, CEA has successfully commissioned a pilot-scale system for electrode extraction applicable to cylindrical, pouch, and prismatic battery cells. This process was successfully applied to real wastewater samples provided by ORANO.

KYBURZ has achieved notable progress in designing a safety containment system in case of thermal runaway events, as well as a versatile clamping system capable of securely holding various battery types before the recycling process. MEET demonstrated a 70% lithium recovery rate using supercritical fluid extraction on real industrial wastewater samples, while ADDIBLE has made significant progress in formulating new solvents that can dissolve PVDF at room temperature, offering a promising alternative for more sustainable battery component separation.

WP3: Innovative and low environmental impact Hydrometallurgy

RESPECT WP3 aims at improving the sustainability of industrial processes through innovative and low environmental impact hydrometallurgy that makes use of low-CO2 chemical consumption, which reduces related emissions. Within this research area, AALTO has expanded the previously assembled experiment-based model to include a range of NMC-based battery chemistries, whilst maintaining respectable prediction levels of target metal yields that result from hydrometallurgical treatment of spent battery waste (black mass).

This model’s outputs have been used as a basis by METSO for the pilot-scale testing of the process parameters that have helped establish the relationship between the lab, pilot and the model predictions. Work at CHALMERS with the resultant pregnant leach solution (PLS) – which contains Li, Mn, Ni and Co, is currently undergoing, large-scale (>250 L) solvent extraction experiments that are optimising the high-purity separation and metal recovery for re-use as battery active materials by partners as part of WP4.

The final task in this work package, led by CEA, concluded and demonstrated that scrap materials from battery manufacturing processes can be successfully purified for direct re-use in battery manufacture by more sustainable processes, whilst maintaining their specific crystal structures.

WP4: Direct recycling & Active Materials synthesis and test (incl.cells manufacturing)

In WP4, partners are working on the recycled precursors from previous WPs, carrying out deep laboratory analysis on recycled materials and launching production of the very first recycled batches for final assessment.

MORROW and ORANO provided commercial benchmark materials, while THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK and FRAUNHOFER are investigating innovative processes related to direct recycling applied for cathode materials sourced from both production waste and EoL batteries. Comprehensive research on these black mass outputs has led to the first strategies to regenerate and even to upgrade their structural and electrochemical performance, with preliminary promising results and the aim to reach the closest values compared to the specifications of fresh materials.

CEA has piloted a versatile synthesis process for cathode active materials from hydrometallurgy outputs. The current focus is now on the recycled leachate solutions and recycled salts coming from WP3. VIANODE is contributing by producing recycled graphite at the kilogram scale through both direct and hydrometallurgical routes. CIDETEC is evaluating the electrochemical performance of all recycled materials in coin and pouch cells to validate the efficiency of the recycling methods.

WP5: Impacts on health, environment, safety and circular economy: new practices related to developed processes

WP5 has delivered a robust Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) covering 54 scenarios across 2 battery chemistries (NMC111 and LFP), 3 LIB waste origins (Central, Northern and Southern Europe), 3 LIB waste destinations (EU, US and China), and 3 recycling technological routes (hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy with and without preprocessing, for which the effects of recycling scale have also been considered). The findings, detailed in Deliverable D5.2  Results of environmental, economic, and social preliminary analyses (baseline scenarios), confirm that NMC battery recycling, particularly within Europe, is both environmentally and economically superior to LFP recycling. The hydrometallurgical process shows the best balance of cost and sustainability.

Importantly, the study reveals that location matters: recycling within Europe reduces social and environmental impacts more effectively than exporting to China or the US, largely due to shorter transport distances and cleaner energy sources. The findings underline the importance of creating robust recycling networks in Europe to achieve comprehensive sustainability benefits. Future directions point towards the importance of improving recycling processes, optimising material recovery rates, and considering social factors as integral parts of the recycling strategy.

WP6: Dissemination & Exploitation, clustering & cooperation with funded projects

Over the past year, the RESPECT project has reached several milestones.

In December, RESPECT partners hosted a project event, “Critical Raw Materials Act: Dream or Reality? Perspectives from the RESPECT Project”. This event explored both the opportunities and challenges in aligning the ambitious goals of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) with the practical realities of creating a circular and sustainable battery ecosystem in Europe. The event brought together speakers from the European Commission, the Batteries European Partnership Association (BEPA), BMW Group, industry leaders, and the RESPECT consortium. Discussions focused on the evolving needs of the battery value chain and the steps required to accelerate the green transition.

Another milestone within WP6 was the organisation of the webinar “Powering Europe’s Net-Zero Future: Graphite’s Role in Clean Energy Competitiveness and Innovation”, hosted in partnership with GR4FITE3. The webinar took place in June as part of the EU Green Week 2025, and highlighted graphite's crucial role in fostering strategic, sustainable solutions within the battery value chain. It also addressed ways to reduce raw material dependency and minimise the environmental footprint of battery production.

Additionally, the RESPECT project was prominently featured at several key industry events in collaboration with consortium partners. These events included the LOLABAT Final Event, Battery Innovation Days 2025, the Battery 2030+ Conference, and the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW 2025), RELIEF and Transensus LCA General Assemblies, and the Cluster Hub Annual Meeting 2024, showcasing innovations across the battery recycling value chain.

WP7: Project Management

WP7 ensured smooth administrative and strategic oversight of RESPECT. Key milestones include:

• Submission of the interim technical and financial report (August 2024).

• Two General Assembly meetings: the 5th General Assembly, held in Münster at the MEET facilities, and the 6th General Assembly at Fraunhofer in Würzburg, Germany, respectively, with lab visits highlighting advances in battery recycling and direct manufacturing.

• The 2nd Advisory Board Meeting, featuring AKKUSER OY and BMW Group, focused on achieving high material recovery rates and aligning technologies with evolving battery regulations.

• A 2nd Review Meeting with the European Commission at CEA in Grenoble, where financial and technical progress was validated, and strategic feedback was integrated into ongoing planning.

• The consortium submitted a proposal for the Hop-on-Facility call, to include a partner from Estonia. Despite this being rejected, partners highly appreciated the opportunity to enhance collaboration with widening EU countries.

The RESPECT project continues to strive toward the future of battery recycling through cross-sector collaboration, advanced research and innovation, and a shared commitment to circularity. As RESPECT moves into its final phases, the focus remains on refining recycling processes, validating results at pilot scale, and quantifying the environmental and economic benefits of its innovations.

In 2026, the RESPECT project will organise its own final event, where project partners will present the outcomes of the project and provide feedback to the European Commission.