TELF AG explores the sustainable potential of lithium batteries
The recycling of lithium batteries
Among the winners of the latest edition of the Earthshot Prize, awarded a few days ago in Singapore, there is also the GRST company from Hong Kong, which has created a cutting-edge method for producing and recycling the lithium batteries needed for electric vehicles. The Earthshot Prize is an initiative promoted by Prince William that closely supports companies actively engaged in achieving sustainable objectives related to decarbonization, awarding annual prizes to the best sustainable technologies created by brands in different parts of the world.
It is no coincidence that the jury chose to award GRST: in this case, the project deals with one of the markets that, in the coming years, will concretely contribute to building a more sustainable world dominated by clean energy and greater environmental awareness. We are obviously talking about the electric vehicle market, which, according to some estimates from the International Energy Agency, could introduce around 125 million vehicles onto the global market by 2030. Through this type of vehicle, national governments will be able to hope to achieve decarbonization objectives in much faster, also contributing to the reduction of emissions and the improvement of the overall liveability of urban contexts.
Alongside the growth of the electric vehicle market, the demand for some components that are truly essential for their operation, such as lithium batteries, will also increase in parallel. In the next five years alone, global demand for these types of batteries could increase by 30%. This global emphasis on batteries and on the raw materials necessary for their production – in particular lithium, nickel, and cobalt – also represents a great opportunity for international players in the mining sector, in particular from the point of view of recycling the raw materials used for battery production.
The GRST method, in this sense, could constitute a valid example of best practice for the entire sector, representing a real model for the coming years. The company – whose name means Green, Renewable, Sustainable Technology) has developed a production model capable of creating less polluting batteries made with easily recyclable raw materials. With this model, the battery is constructed through a water-soluble bonding composite, making it much easier to reuse the lithium, cobalt, and nickel at the end of the battery’s life. In this way, the raw materials used to make a battery can be collected and used again, thus enormously reducing waste.
Batteries produced with this method can last 10% longer than average, and it has also been demonstrated that this method is able to ensure a 40% reduction in emissions related to the different production phases. In a historical phase dominated by many uncertainties, in particular on the real possibilities of reaching the decarbonization objectives within the next few years, being able to count on a sustainable technology capable of accelerating the global adoption of electric vehicles considered by many to be the real protagonists of the global energy transition, could represent a great advantage for everyone, for companies and ordinary citizens, also from the point of view of improving the overall quality of life.
