Archives for November 2024

At GAIKER, we get an integrated, holistic view of the sustainability of a process, product or service through the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA)
Our tools:

• Ad hoc tools in Excel format
• Software: SimaPro, Sphera LCA for Experts, OpenLCA, etc.
• Databases: Ecoinvent, Sphera, Environmental Footprint, PSILCA, etc.

We also apply the LCA methodology to carrying out environmental assessments of products/services in line with specific methodologies:

• Carbon footprint as per ISO standards
• Environmental footprint as per the methodology proposed by the EC
• LCA as per the ISO standards and various Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) reference systems such as Environdec, IBU-EPD, etc.

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Article written by Rafael Miguel – Recycling and Circular Economy Market Manager at GAIKER – See original

Lithium is classified by the European Union as a key component in the transition away from fossil fuels towards clean energy. More and more electronic devices and electric vehicles are using lithium batteries. The increasing consumption of these devices means that these batteries need to be managed properly at the end of their useful life, they need to be recycled responsibly and the materials they contain need to be recovered to minimise their environmental impact.

GAIKER we research and develop technologies and processes to improve and make progress in the different stages of recycling lithium-ion batteries.

1. We develop different processes for the different stages of recycling lithium-ion batteries and other batteries with complex chemistries.
2. In the first stage, we discharge batteries so that we can deliver a safe, environmentally friendly process with a capacity and processing time in line with industry requirements.
3. We dismantle batteries and remove the electrodes in order to extract the black mass. We extract high purity black mass from different types of EV battery waste (modules, cells, production rejects) by mechanical (crushing and shredding) and physical (ultrasound) methods.
4. We have developed a process for automatically sorting battery cathodes by electrochemistry, prior to extracting the black mass. To this end, we applied artificial intelligence techniques to spectral information obtained by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). We have successfully tested different types of batteries (PAE, mobile, EV) with very good results.
5. We have looked at different physical ways of removing the adhesive covering the active material on the the anode and cathode: calcination, cryogenic grinding with a rotor mill and ultrasound.
6. We have investigated how to separate the carbonaceous fraction on the anode from the Li metal oxides on the cathode using both dry and wet techniques. We have tested a number of different options, particularly gravimetric techniques, and prioritised the concentration of metal oxides with minimum loss.
7. We have looked at separating the different types of materials contained in the shredded batteries after the black mass has been extracted.
8. We have recovered the following active materials from the black mass: Li, Co, Ni, Mn, etc. by means of hydrometallurgy, by optimising the different stages of selective leaching, precipitation and crystallisation.

All of these developments allow GAIKER to provide environmentally and economically positive solutions to industry to ensure the circularity of batteries at the end of their useful life.

The European SUNRISE project will support the development of advanced materials that are safer for people and the environment and more sustainable from the early product development stages to the end of their useful life.

GAIKER Technology Centre is a member of the Basque Research Technology Alliance (BRTA) and one of the 19 partners involved in the European Safe and Sustainable by Design: Integrated Approaches for Impact Assessment of Advanced Materials (SUNRISE) project.

Within the framework of the SUNRISE was launched as part of the European Union's Horizon programme with the aim of developing a tool over the next three years to assess the impact of advanced materials on human health, the environment, society and the economy, in order to be able to make decisions on the safety and sustainability of these materials from the design stage and throughout their life cycles and value chains.

This tool will be presented as a user-friendly web platform and a guide to tackle the challenges of implementing the Safety and Sustainability by Design (SSbD) strategy.

Advanced materials (AdMas) are new materials with improved properties that are specifically designed to perform better than conventional materials (higher strength, durability, lighter, etc.) used for the same purpose.

This research was initiated to analyse whether these materials are safer for people and the environment and more sustainable. GAIKER will primarily be responsible for establishing the methodological blocks for assessing environmental safety and human health (assessment criteria, thresholds, categories and tools). To this end, the Technology Centre will assess the applicability of in vitro models for assessing the safety of advanced materials and will adapt and develop new approach methodologies (NAMs) and integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATA) that can be used to assess the safety of AdMas for the environment and human health in a cost-effective way while avoiding animal testing.

SUNRISE received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 10113732.  

Gaiker has pilot plants to research the processing of composite materials. The majority of transformation technologies are at our disposal to test how materials adapt to processes, scale them up, and create functional laboratory-scale and real-size prototypes and demonstrators.

• Pilot plant for thermoplastic composites
• Pilot plant for sensorised RTM and infusion
• Pilot plant for SMC and prepregs

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