Tuesday 21 April 2020

EV batteries get ‘second life’ in Honda’s new recycling initiative

EV batteries get ‘second life’ in Honda’s new recycling initiative

Honda Motor Europe has teamed up with Société Nouvelle d’Affinage des Métaux (SNAM) to advance the sustainable usability of its end-of-life batteries.

The expansion of the battery recycling initiative will see SNAM collect and recycle batteries from Honda's hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) and either potentially prepare them for 'second-life' renewable energy storage uses or extract valuable materials for recycling if they are not suitable for this purpose.

Upon arrival, SNAM will assess which battery packs are valid for inclusion in a new energy storage device - these will then be repurposed and made available for domestic and industrial applications.

If battery cells are unsuitable for ‘second life’ applications, materials such as cobalt and lithium will be extracted and reused in the production of new batteries, colour pigments or as useful additives for mortar.

Other commonly used materials including copper, metal and plastics could be recycled and offered to the market for use in the production of a variety of applications.

Tom Gardner, Senior Vice President at Honda Motor Europe, said: “As demand for Honda’s expanding range of hybrid and EVs continues to grow so does the requirement to manage batteries in the most environmentally-friendly way possible.

"Recent market developments may allow us to make use of these batteries in a second life application for powering businesses or by using recent improved recycling techniques to recover useful raw materials which can be used as feedstock into the production of new batteries.”

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

Trending Articles