Energy company Fortum is building a new plant in Finland to recycle used traction batteries. The new plant is scheduled to go into operation in 2023.
Fortum builds hydrometallurgical plant in Harjavalta (Finland)
Fortum
The new recycling plant in Harjavalta (Finland) will enable Fortum to recycle a large proportion of electric vehicle batteries in Europe from 2023. Fortum will use a combination of mechanical and low-CO2 hydrometallurgical processes. First, the lithium-ion batteries are disassembled and treated in a mechanical process at the Ikaalinen plant, also located in Finland. The black mass of the battery, which contains rare metals, is then collected and transported to Harjavalta for hydrometallurgical processing. The plant is expected to be able to recycle other materials of value in addition to rare metals.
“With the increasing electrification of transport, the raw material gap facing the automotive industry is becoming a more serious challenge. Our new facility will support the existing Finnish and European battery manufacturing ecosystem and help the industry as a whole to produce more sustainable batteries in Europe,” says Kalle Saarimaa, Vice President, Fortum Recycling & Waste. The company already operates an industrial-scale hydrometallurgical plant as a pilot project at its Harjavalta site.