LFP Battery Recycling Technology
Inventive Leap supported the commercial validation of a chemical-free LFP battery recycling process, proving its economic viability and enabling global industry engagement and investment readiness.
Client
University of Galway and Teagasc
Sector
University
Publication Date
15 de noviembre de 2023
Opportunity
The global LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery market is worth almost $19Bn and growing at 17% driven by rapid adoption in the EVs market and the requirements for grid-scale stationary storage applications driven by data-centre and AI applications. Despite ever-tightening regulatory requirements, when these batteries reach end-of-life, LFP batteries are not fully recycled because it is neither sustainable nor economical to do so.
A new process developed in Professor Xinmin Zhan's lab by Dr. Jizhong Meng provides a transformative, sustainable solution. This technology enables LFP battery waste to be fully recycled profitably and without the use of chemicals. By eliminating the need for energy-intensive smelting and harsh chemicals, this innovation offers a circular and eco-friendly pathway for recovering non-renewable critical raw materials, significantly reducing the environmental footprint of the LFP recycling.
Background
Approach
Inventive Leap was retained as part of an Enterprise Ireland funded study to assess the commercial feasibility of the technology. As part of this project we brought in two renowned commercial and technical experts from the battery recycling industry Dr. Amrit Chandan & Dr. Anwar Setter and focused the work on exploring the techno-unit economics of the technology at scale, the ability for major recycling companies to adopt the technology within their existing workflows and creating relationships with key commercial partners in the the industry
The project clearly demonstrated the commercial potential of the technology and secured 13 letters of support from battery recycling customers around the world. The Research Team was awarded follow-on commercialisation funding which will allow the team to complete key technical and commercial outcomes and to assess routes-to-market alongside key players in the battery recycling industry.