Stellantis and Orano call off recycling joint venture
Orano announced the decision in a brief press release. However, both companies want to explore “other potential commercial relationships considering the quality of Orano’s recycling process.” They are “thankful for the collaborative relationship developed over time.”
The company did not give any reasons for the decision. It is also more of a regulatory announcement consisting of just two sentences than a full press release.
The letter of intent signed in October 2023 stipulated that the joint venture to be founded would recycle used batteries and production waste “from gigafactories in Enlarged Europe and North America.” Firstly, the so-called black mass was to be extracted from the used batteries using a process developed by Orano, before being broken down into its original components in the next step at Orano’s hydrometallurgical plant, which Orano is building in France. It should give Stellantis access to the materials to manufacture new battery cells from them (with other partners).
There is also an indirect cooperation with Umicore in the area of battery recycling: the Belgian materials technology and recycling group is a partner in the Automotive Cells Company (ACC) battery cell joint venture between Stellantis, Total and Mercedes-Benz. Umicore recycles the production waste from the ACC pilot plant in Nersac, France, specifically in its recycling plant in Hoboken, Belgium.
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