BASF, along with energy company Fortum and mining specialist Nornickel plan to develop a battery recycling cluster in Finland, serving the electric vehicle market. According to the companies, the aim is to create a successful ‘closed loop’ cycle to re-use the critical metals present in used batteries. Using metals from recycled batteries to produce battery materials can help reduce CO2 in the production of electric vehicles, while additional CO2 reduction can be achieved by using electricity from renewable sources in Finland for the recycling process. ‘By recycling valuable metals in lithium-ion batteries we reduce the environmental impact of electric car batteries by complementing the supply of cobalt, nickel and other critical metals from primary sources,’ said Tero Holländer, head of business development at Fortum. BASF intends to use recycled materials from the processes developed by the companies in its planned battery materials precursor plant in Harjavalta, Finland. ‘The combination of battery materials production and recycling enables the circular economy by closing the loop,’ added Tim Ingle, vice president at BASF. ‘To drive electrification, we are focused on bringing solutions for high energy density cathode active materials and high efficiency lithium extraction for battery recycling.’ BASF; www.basf.com The aim is to create a successful ’closed loop’ cycle to re-use the critical metals present in used batteries.