The ReLiB Project

Professor Paul Anderson: Principal investigator, academic lead and supervisor of several researchers in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham.

Professor Peter Slater: I am a work package leader for the ReLiB project and Co-I, and supervise a number of researchers at the University of Birmingham.

Professor Louise Horsfall: I’m a Co-I bringing in the development and integration of engineering biology for metal recycling to the multidisciplinary approaches used by the team.

Professor Gary Leeke: I am a Co-I on the project, and with the team, we focused on electrolyte and binder recovery from EV batteries.

Dr Evangelos Kallitsis: “ReLiB is developing a portfolio of solutions to deal with battery waste, and I work with partners across the project to predict their environmental impact. Our efforts integrate sustainability from the process development phase and ensure a net positive impact through the integration of end-of-life treatment options within the battery value chain.”

Dr Daniel Reed: As Project Lead, my role is to have an overview of the scientific achievements and direction of the whole project, how these battery recycling technologies, improve recovery rates, purity, efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of battery waste. Understanding how the ReLiB project contributes to the technology pipeline and enables the revolution in battery recycling. As a Co-Investigator, my work on solvent-free extraction of cathode active material (CAM) from end-of-life batteries reduces CAM back to metals that undergo binder negation and debonding from the electrode assembly before upcycling into the latest generation of CAM.

Alex Green: Within the team, my role primarily involved working on recycling high-power titanate and niobate anodes, with a particular focus on upcycling lithium titanate into next-generation niobate systems and assessing the degradation mechanisms and recycling strategies for TiNb2O7. My responsibilities involved conducting experimental research, analysing data, collaborating with team members, and contributing to the development of innovative recycling methodologies.

Professor Mohamed Mamlouk: Recently joined it as co-investigator to lead efforts on data driven, decision making tools to improve the sustainability of recycling and reuse of batteries.

Dr Milon Miah: As a research fellow at the University of Birmingham, my role within the team primarily involved leading various aspects of our battery recycling research. This included designing and conducting experiments, analysing data, and developing innovative methodologies for efficient and sustainable recycling processes. I also collaborated closely with other researchers, guiding junior team members and contributing to the writing and publication of our findings. Additionally, I engaged in outreach activities to promote our research and its potential impact on sustainable energy solutions.

Dr Rob Sommerville: Within the team, I have been working on the automated disassembly, shredding, sorting and separation of battery components to produce higher purity black mass, which is an intermediate product in the recycling of li-ion batteries comprising the most valuable battery components. I have also been actively engaging with industry so that our work can be carried forward on a larger scale.

Dr Dominika Gastol: My role in the team is dedicated to the development of the next generation of battery electrodes that are comprised of sustainable binder systems allowing component disassembly and recycling when the battery reaches end of life. This is achieved by designing the battery part, employing state-of-the-art technology, such as additive manufacturing and finally the incorporation of naturally derived polymer binders. The aim of this design is to extend the cycle-life performance of the battery and allow recovery and re-use of the incorporated materials.

Dr Jacqueline Edge: I lead the work on techno-economics and sustainability assessment of the recycling process. This will enable us to benchmark the processes we develop here against the processes currently in use in industry to compare their performance in terms of cost and environmental impacts.

Professor Paul Anderson: The big challenges in this work are getting everyone, including the chemistry community, to see the ingenuity and beauty in efficient end-of-life processes and to understand that an elegant lab solution, or what works now when the flow of end-of-life batteries is a trickle, may not work when it becomes a flood.

Professor Peter Slater: “The biggest challenge was the lack of detailed information on the composition and degradation processes in end-of-life EV batteries. This required researchers to perform detailed characterisation to gather this information so as to inform potential recycling strategies.”

Professor Louise Horsfall: In a project so large and diverse, you can never be an expert in all aspects. When I started, I had experience in bioremediation and engineering biology to harness the selectivity and sensitivity that biology has in its interactions with metals, but I was not aware of what metals were in lithium-ion batteries. Reaching out from my subject silo was hugely challenging (and greatly rewarding). It required me to communicate in simple, accessible terms and explain the limitations of my work while trying to convince a new team to trust my expertise. It was particularly difficult whilst overcoming overlapping terminologies (battery cell and bacterial cell!) and asking some very basic questions to both academic peers and industry.

Dr Phoebe Allan: Batteries are complex devices – processes from the atomic scale all the way up to the battery pack level influence the performance, and understanding how the different aspects of the battery chemistry and engineering impact and influence recycling processes is a massive challenge.

Dr Elizabeth Driscoll: The biggest challenge, I believe, is associated with the multitude of battery chemistries and the composites of the electrodes, and thus devising a recycling route that’s appropriate, effective and efficient. The batteries we have been applying recycling processes to tend to have limited history and information.

Dr Milon Miah: The biggest challenges in our battery recycling research project included: Material diversity: batteries come in various chemistries and formats, each requiring distinct recycling processes. Developing a universal method to handle this diversity effectively was a significant challenge. Efficiency and cost: creating recycling methods that are both efficient and cost-effective posed a major hurdle. Balancing these two factors is critical to making the recycling process commercially viable and environmentally sustainable. Technological limitations: some of the existing technologies for battery recycling are not advanced enough to recover all valuable materials, especially rare and critical elements. Overcoming these limitations required significant innovation and adaptation. Environmental and safety concerns: ensuring that our recycling methods are safe for both workers and the environment was paramount. This involved rigorous testing and adherence to stringent safety and environmental regulations. Scalability: moving from laboratory-scale processes to industrial-scale operations presented logistical and technical challenges. Ensuring that our methods could be scaled up without losing efficiency or increasing costs was a complex task.

Dr Jacqueline Edge: Batteries are very complex devices, requiring a range of materials to achieve high performance, safety and durability. However, this makes recycling them equally complex, and the processes we use have their own environmental impacts. The challenge for this research is to strike the right balance, where we can recover as much of the material as possible in a usable state and with the smallest environmental footprint possible.

Professor Peter Slater: The ReLiB team is cross-disciplinary, and each researcher has brought their unique expertise to the project. This has helped all researchers to develop as a team and build new knowledge and expertise.

Professor Louise Horsfall: There is broad coverage of expertise within this team, including the chemical, material and biological sciences, engineering, sustainability modelling and economics. However, the ‘special sauce’ is that everyone is genuinely enthusiastic and driven to address the most pressing challenge within the electric vehicle manufacturing sector – the sustainable recovery and reuse of battery materials.

Professor Mohamed Mamlouk: Breadth of expertise across science, biology, engineering and life cycle analysis.

Dr Pierrot Attidekou: People with different backgrounds offer a fertile possibility of collaboration, which is always beneficial for the project and for science in general.

Professor Paul Anderson: The transition to net zero is the defining scientific and technological challenge of our age.

Professor Peter Slater: With the transition towards electric vehicles, there are both challenges and opportunities for when the batteries in these vehicles reach their end of EV application usable life. The ReLiB project has been developing strategies to overcome the challenges with new approaches for low cost, low waste recycling approaches.

Professor Louise Horsfall: The development of technologies that can recover battery materials for reuse is absolutely vital. At the moment, the technologies do not exist for the lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry to achieve the targets of the EU battery regulations that demand 65% recycling efficiency by the end of 2025, increasing to 70% by 2030. In part, this is because the materials have to maintain their value, as there are also minimum levels of recycled content required in new batteries also comping into play. Consequently, the recovery and provision of the high-quality metals necessary for new automotive lithium-ion battery production is key to enabling a circular economy for electric vehicles.

Professor Gary Leeke: The binder used in the anode and cathode is typically made from fluorinated polymer, which, when removed by conventional heat processes, generates hydrofluoric acid, which is extremely hazardous and damaging to equipment. At the same time, graphite (now on the critical materials list) from the anode is consumed in the process and not recovered. We developed a low temperature process to recover the fluorinated polymer, which also allows the recovery of the graphite. In addition the process enables the recovery of the current collector materials, copper and aluminium.

Dr Evangelos Kallitsis: There is no way to materialise ambitious electrification plans at scale without having efficient ways to manage battery waste. In addition, recycling is aiming to become the new mining, enabling countries with limited resources to manufacture technologies using critical minerals. That said, ReLiB is strategically positioned to materialise ambitious climate plans, ensuring that we don’t diminish one environmental problem to create another one.

Dr Daniel Reed: The growth of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems will drive the demand for battery recycling, where a dynamic and flexible industry is needed that can grow with the available market. ReLiB’s advances in battery recycling technologies are enabling efficient and cost-effective processes for short-loop recycling and upcycling. The project has developed techniques to improve material recovery rates, reduce environmental impact, and higher selectivity to lower recycling costs for a series of current and future electrode chemistries.

Alex Green: The research in ReLiB is crucial and exciting because as the demand for Li-ion batteries continues to rise, so does the urgency to develop sustainable recycling solutions to mitigate environmental impact and resource depletion. By exploring the recycling of Li-ion batteries, we are not only addressing the pressing need for sustainable end-of-life management of these batteries but also unlocking potential avenues for resource recovery and circular economy practices.

Dr Laura Driscoll: Batteries are an essential part of the technology roadmap to drive down harmful emissions responsible for global warming. However, such technologies must also be sustainable and have little to no impact on the environment through their implementation. Development of recycling strategies are crucial in achieving such goals and should always be considered when designing novel technologies and products. This is to make sure that as many (if not all) processes involved in the design and implementation of such innovations are as ‘closed loop’ as possible i.e. reduction in waste/limited loss of crucial materials. One aspect of the featured work that is an exciting development is the utilization of novel strategies to improve selectivity. This leads to a large reduction in the time taken to recover key materials and increases the chances of implementing direct recycling strategies (which are favoured due to improved LCA).

Dr James Annis: Vehicle electrification is only a sustainable option if we ensure that the batteries powering them are sustainable. This means that they cannot be sent to landfill at the end of life and the methods to reclaim and recycle them must be as efficient as possible. To be at the forefront of this research is incredibly important and exciting.

Dr Virginia Echavarri Bravo: The ReLiB project aims to address big challenges that involve recycling large amounts of lithium-ion batteries at scale to secure the supply change of raw materials for making new batteries. Moreover, recycling has to be done in a sustainable manner to make sure that the lithium-ion battery technology can support the decarbonisation of transport to slow down/prevent climate crisis. What we do is important and to see we can make a positive impact is exciting and keeps me very motivated to continue working towards the goals of the project.

Dr Rob Sommerville: This work is important, as it addresses the need for responsible stewardship of our critical materials and provides better ways for us to reuse our limited resources in the most sustainable way. This is exciting as it is a growing area of research, with relevance to global efforts of decarbonising energy and transport infrastructure.

Dr Dominika Gastol: The work conducted by the members of the ReLiB project is relevant as it addresses the challenges associated with energy transition to net zero. The transition to a circular economy requires new ways of approaching waste, where the emphasis is placed on reduce, re-use and recycling. This is being extensively studied in the ReLiB project where batteries are being manufactured from upcycled materials obtained from spent first generation of electric vehicles.

Dr Jacqueline Edge: Because batteries contain a wide range of critical, costly materials, which incur strong environmental impacts to extract, recycling is extremely important to reduce the need to dig for more minerals. Our processes have the potential to recover a large proportion of battery materials and restore them to full functionality at low cost and with few environmental impacts. This pioneering work could change the whole industry for recycling technology devices.

Professor Paul Anderson: A decisive move from the extractive linear economy to greater circularity based on efficient recycling is the sine qua non of the net zero transition. It is hard to see success without it.

Dr Evangelos Kallitsis: The scientific outputs of ReLiB directly influence strategies towards sustainable management of end-of-life batteries. This has a direct impact not only on the recycling industry but also on manufacturing, as these batteries need to be produced with recyclability in mind.

Dr Daniel Reed: One of the biggest impacts of this technology/research is to bring battery de-manufacturing and recycling into the UK, with the creation of jobs and wealth. The key to ReLiB’s approach is to enable a growing and developing industry to flourish through the development of drop-in technologies that don’t require wholesale changes in recycling plants to remain current and competitive in the future

Dr Rob Sommerville: I think the biggest impact of this research will be on improving the sustainability of Li-ion batteries by providing shorter recycling routes for battery materials and a local source of recycled content for new batteries.

Professor Paul Anderson: ReLiB is already partnering with commercial waste management companies with the aim of bringing new, more efficient recycling technologies to market.

Alex Green: Recycling Li-ion batteries will be integrated into real-life applications through established recycling facilities and processes. Recovered materials can be reused in new battery production, reducing reliance on virgin resources and lowering production costs.

Dr Rob Sommerville: This work will be used to improve the sustainability of Li-ion batteries by ensuring that we can extract the highest value out of this growing feedstock. This work will be used to implement easier, more efficient methods to extract and re-use the valuable materials present, answering the increasing demand for recycled content in new batteries.

Professor Paul Anderson: The big push for the next few years will be to extend the range of battery materials that can be successfully recycled, and ReLiB has already been working intensively on this.

Professor Gary Leeke: The work will focus on large lab scale demonstration and the re-use of the recovered binder and graphite in closed and open loop recycling.

Dr Daniel Reed: The first application for this technology will be in reducing the cost of new batteries through reducing and reprocessing manufacturing waste. Over the coming years, the ReLiB processes will be instrumental in enabling the required levels of recycled materials to be used in the manufacture of new batteries, reducing the cost and global impact of mining new resources.

Professor Paul Anderson: Science is fun! And inspirational when combined with the opportunity to make a real difference.

Alex Green: Our team in the ReLiB project is motivated by the opportunity to address environmental challenges, innovate new recycling technologies, and benefit society. Collaboration encourages creativity and progress, while the global impact of our work inspires us to contribute to a sustainable future, locally and globally, reduced waste, and enhanced resource efficiency.

Dr Virginia Echavarri Bravo: The continuous optimisation and improvements achieved in our bioseparation process are the motivation and inspiration I need to continue our research to support the development of more sustainable recycling methods for lithium-ion batteries. We live in a beautiful planet and we have no right to take it away from future generations.

Professor Mohamed Mamlouk: Leave a safe, clean and sustainable world to our children and future generations.

Dr Elizabeth Driscoll: Seeing a result that hasn’t been published previously.

Dr Pierrot Attidekou: Recycling targets CO₂ emission and sustainability, which are the only way for a better future.

Dr Milon Miah: Knowing that our research has the potential to make a significant global impact on sustainability and resource conservation is a powerful motivator. We are driven by the desire to contribute to a greener, more sustainable future. The collaborative spirit within our team fosters a supportive and dynamic work environment. We draw inspiration from each other's expertise and dedication, which enhances our collective efforts and success. Receiving recognition and validation from the scientific community and industry leaders boosts our morale and reinforces the importance of our work. Awards and accolades, like the one we are honoured to receive, serve as powerful motivators.

Professor Paul Anderson: The natural world has no regard for academic ivory towers or technology silos. Solutions to global problems like climate change will require all shoulders to the wheel!

Alex Green: Collaboration in the chemical sciences is vital for driving innovation, advancing knowledge, and solving complex challenges. It brings together diverse expertise, perspectives, and resources to tackle multidisciplinary problems more effectively. Collaborative efforts enable researchers to access specialized equipment, facilities, and funding opportunities that may not be available individually. Furthermore, collaboration enhances the creativity of ideas, leading to breakthrough discoveries and novel solutions. By sharing insights and working collectively, scientists can accelerate scientific progress and address pressing societal needs.

Professor Mohamed Mamlouk: To resolve global challenges, we need a multidisciplinary approach bringing a larger team who is passionate and driven to address them.

Dr Jacqueline Edge: This research is a shining example of the need for interdisciplinary work, combining physics, chemistry, mathematical modelling, environmental science and a wide range of engineering disciplines, from mechanical to robotics. This makes a strong case for collaborative research, to bring experts in all these areas together to try new ideas and apply different approaches. Embracing diversity by including people from not only different research areas but also with different backgrounds and ways of thinking is the only way to solve the very complex challenge of recycling batteries.

Professor Paul Anderson: Scientists often do not think of themselves as creative, but research creativity is the lifeblood of scientific progress.

Dr Evangelos Kallitsis: Good research culture means that everybody is empowered to share their unique perspectives and feels recognised for their contributions.

Dr Phoebe Allan: A good research culture should allow rigorous science where everyone feels comfortable contributing to discussions. It values the range of skills and experiences different people bring to a collaborative project.

Dr Virginia Echavarri Bravo: Good research culture means to me working together towards the established goals, supporting each other, sharing findings and discussing ideas freely, acknowledging everyone’s contribution and being open to constructive criticism.

Professor Mohamed Mamlouk: Joyful, collaborative, open, and fun!

Dr Elizabeth Driscoll: One that is transparent and full of team players.

Professor Paul Anderson: As the world's population fast approaches 10 billion, it is timely to reflect on the fact that nothing like this number would be sustainable without the intervention of chemists, be it in the manufacture of fertilizers and pesticides for food production, in the discovery of drugs such as antibiotics vastly reducing mortality rates, or now, in clean energy technologies.

Dr James Annis: It’s undeniable that the chemical sciences have helped to form the modern world, for better and for worse. As we now have a greater understanding of the impact we leave on the planet, the chemical sciences are necessary to find more environmentally friendly alternatives that are as good or better than the materials, medicines, and chemicals that we currently use. This helps to improve the lives of people across the world whilst also helping the ecosystem to recover and thrive.

Professor Mohamed Mamlouk: Developing solutions through curiosity-driven exploration to addressing humanity's most pressing challenges including ageing and health, food and energy.

Professor Paul Anderson: From climate change to water quality, many environmental issues that arise from human activity have chemistry at their core, and it is the world's chemists that are raising awareness and solving problems. Come and join us! If we cannot find the solutions we need, who will?

Dr Laura Driscoll: The key bit of advice I would give to any aspiring scientist is to always persevere. A lot of research is ‘trial and error’, and most situations will lead to incremental improvements or, in a good proportion of cases, failure. However, no one should be disheartened by this – after all, a large proportion of great advances were accidental or an unintentional positive side effect! So always preserve as you never know where your research will take you in the future.

Dr James Annis: Find something you are passionate about and pursue it, but also leave yourself open to finding new areas and skills that you might discover you love even more. When I was at school, I would never have thought I would be doing this, now.

Professor Mohamed Mamlouk: If you are driven by curiosity, love to explore and experiment and want to make a difference to humanity and our planet then chemical sciences is the career for you!