Fortum and Marubeni launch battery recycling cooperation

The Finnish company Fortum Battery Recycling has signed a preliminary agreement and a letter of intent with the Japanese trading group Marubeni to jointly establish a sustainable recycling chain for lithium-ion batteries, focussing on the recycling of graphite.

Marubeni will support Fortum in the supply of in-process waste materials and process chemicals and will also seek opportunities for graphite and lithium recycling technologies to develop a recycling value chain that meets market demand. Both companies intend to continue to explore other potential business opportunities and promote sustainable growth in the clean energy sector.

“We are very excited to be cooperating with Marubeni to explore potential business opportunities within graphite recycling. An average electric vehicle (EV) car battery contains about 52kg of graphite, and it is the main raw material of an EV battery. At the same time, 40% of raw natural graphite is imported from China and technologies for graphite recycling do not exist on a commercial scale yet. Fortum Battery Recycling aims to change this, as we are working on our own graphite recycling technology,” said Tero Holländer, Head of the Battery Business Area at Fortum Battery Recycling.

Fortum produces recycled graphite from electric car battery waste. Graphite is suitable for various industrial applications and is being further developed for electric car battery anodes. Through this partnership, Fortum, together with Marubeni, aims to play a key role in the European market for recycled lithium-ion battery materials and contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society.

Fortum recently entered into a partnership with Hydrovolt, the joint venture between the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt and the Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro. The partners support each other in battery recycling. The aim is for Northern Europe to become a model region for battery recycling.

fortum.com