Startup university revolutionizes electric car battery recycling

Electric vehicles play an important role in the transition to sustainable mobility. However, recycling powerful lithium-ion batteries remains a challenge – they contain valuable raw materials, but disposal is problematic, because, among other things, they can cause fires. Only a few waste disposal companies have recycling facilities, and it takes expensive and safe transportation to bring old batteries there.

A start-up based at the University of Graz is working on a new solution: Jürgen Abraham, Tobias Kopp and Chris Pichler, all of whom work at the Institute of Chemistry, have developed “ProtectLiB”, a patented process in the form of a compact recycling system. This is the size of a regular container, so that vehicle batteries can be processed directly on site. “We can separate lithium, cobalt and nickel from the liquid electrolyte. In contrast to current processes, we can do this without using heat,” explains Kopp. Since the residue is no longer hazardous, further processing and transportation become much cheaper.

The prototype on campus is ready for use. The founders are currently focusing entirely on batteries from the automotive sector. Cell phone or laptop batteries are initially excluded, because each battery has a different chemical composition, explains Kopp. “A one-size-fits-all solution cannot be implemented that easily.” The first customer has already been won in the south of Graz. “Prototypes for transportation batteries are being developed there. In the future, ProtectLiB will recycle these products directly on site for the company,” says Kopp.