Stellantis hopes to accelerate its lithium-ion automotive battery recycling capabilities by forming a joint venture aimed at retrieving vital ingredients from end-of-life battery packs.
The automaker joins with nuclear-fuel specialist Orano in the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a JV for recycling old vehicle batteries and scrap from gigafactories in Europe and North America. The pair hopes to retrieve important components used in the creation of lithium-ion batteries including cobalt, nickel and lithium.
The new entity will employ Orano’s low-carbon technology, which claims to enable the recovery of all materials from lithium-ion batteries, and the manufacturing of new cathode materials. It will produce materials also known as “black mass” or “active mass.” Those materials can be refined in Orano’s hydrometallurgical plant to be built in Dunkirk, France, so that they can be re-used in batteries, thus closing the loop of a circular economy.
The company says its pre-treatment approach and hydrometallurgy technology will achieve metals recovery rates of more than 90%. This could allow automakers to reach European Commission levels of recycling rate into batteries of electric vehicles and ensure the sustainability of the business model.
The new commercial recycling entity could also provide Stellantis’ partners, its after-sales network and other automakers with a solution to manage end-of-life batteries and scrap from gigafactories. Production will begin in the first part of 2026, reusing existing Stellantis assets and facilities.
“The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals has confirmed the need to find solutions like this one with Orano to meet the challenge of natural resource scarcity and sustainability," says Alison Jones, Stellantis senior vice president, circular economy business unit. "Guided by our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis is committed to shifting its production and consumption model by fulfilling its circular economy commitment.”
