Development of a functional recycling process for lithium-ion traction batteries from mobile applications

The share of newly registered Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) in Austria has been increasing by 50% annually since 2015, and even by more than 100% from 2020 to 2021. This trend is supported by political measures such as Austria's climate neutrality target and the European Green Deal. However, this requires an enormous increase in the supply of raw materials (including Li, Ni, Co). The primary raw material extraction, only 1% of which takes place in Europe and thus entails a strong dependence on imports, also represents an enormous environmental burden. The goal of the MoLIBity project, the targeted recovery of important secondary raw materials for reuse in the sense of a circular economy, is in line with ecological, economic, and social sustainability and at the same time with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 and 12. In addition, the innovation performance in the field of circular economy will be increased, which will expand the technology leadership and strengthen international competitiveness. The know-how gained in this way helps Austrian research and industry to continue to operate in an economically sustainable manner in the future, thus underlining the goals of SDG 9 to build a sustainable industry and promote innovation. In addition, the raw materials lithium, cobalt, aluminum, nickel, manganese, and copper, which are classified by the European Commission as "critical" and in Austria as "of strategic economic importance", will be recovered.