Eramet and Suez suspend plans for battery recycling in France

The plans of Eramet and Suez were already well advanced: the recycling plant was to consist of two parts – a dismantling plant and a hydrometallurgy plant – and be located in the Grand Port Maritime of Dunkerque (Dunkirk). When the partners’ plans were first presented in March 2022, there was talk of construction starting in 2024 and a subsequent processing capacity of 50,000 tonnes of battery modules per year.

However, Eramet is now pulling the emergency brake: “Due to the lack of ramp-up in Europe of battery factories and their components (precursors and materials for cathodes), there are currently major uncertainties about the supply of raw materials to the plant, and about recycling opportunities for the metallic salts,” the company writes. “The required conditions for pursuing a hydrometallurgical battery recycling plant project in France are therefore not met, and the Group has decided to suspend the project.” Elsewhere in the current annual report, it simply states: “Suspension of the Battery Recycling project, pending a solid and sustainable economic model in Europe.”

In a corporate interview on Eramet’s website, Geoff Streeton, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, goes into more detail about the background to the decision: “We remain convinced of the need to develop a circular economy for critical metals on European soil, and end-of-life battery recycling will be a key element in this future value chain,” says the manager. “But we have to face the reality of the market.”

In Streeton’s eyes, the value chain for electric vehicle batteries in Europe is off to a difficult start. In view of the very slow ramp-up of battery factories, the company is currently unable to secure the supply of raw materials for its own factory project. “And downstream, there are no customers for recycled metal salts, as no European cathode precursor projects have been confirmed,” Streeton explained. The solid and sustainable economic conditions for such a project are therefore not in place. At least for the time being. “We will, however, continue to study the market fundamentals required to make such a project competitive,” the manager added.

A month ago, Stellantis and Orano had already cancelled a planned joint venture to recycle electric car batteries in France – without giving any reasons. The letter of intent signed by both parties in October 2023 actually envisaged the joint recycling of used batteries and production waste from factories in the regions of greater 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. Orano is building this plant in France. This should give Stellantis access to the materials in order to manufacture new battery cells from them (with other partners).

thelocal.fr, eramet.com (Q3 report, PDF), eramet.com (interview with Geoff Streeton)