However each battery contains 35 kilograms

The electric car market has not yet really started, but the researchers have already begun to floor on the recycling of lithium batteries. Unlike other metals such as cobalt, he is currently not recycled. However each battery contains 3-5 kilograms. Latest advance in date: Veolia recently to develop a technique to extract it and filed patents a few months ago. Only a few players in the world are known to possess such technology. "Recupyl was, in 2005, the first company in the world to file a patent on the extraction of lithium batteries for electric vehicle", said Farouk Tedjar, President and Scientific Director of this small French company.

Pretty cost-effective step

Since then, a giant, the Belgian Umicore, world leader in the recycling of electronic products, a suit. "Since two or three years, in the laboratory, Umicore has the technology to recycle the lithium in closed loop, i.e. reusing the lihium extracted in new batteries, but was never tried in pilot plant", explains Jan Vliegen vice - Chairman of the Group partner of SAFT on the subject.

Because between possess technology and engage in recycling in industrial-scale, there is a step that many players did not decide to cross, believing that lithium is not quite expensive to make profitable extraction. At Umicore, "a pilot plant for recycling of batteries for electric vehicle with a total capacity of 7,000 tonnes will start in May 2011 in Antwerp, but will not process the lithium, says Jan Vliegen.". Should prices of market of 10 to 15 dollars per kilo to its recycling, however it is 6-7 dollars... . This situation may evolve. "In addition to the fact that there is an environmental dimension, should be a long-term vision, evidenced by the example of nickel, believes Pascal Muller, Director of factory at Veolia.". In 1999, when we decided to invest in a unit of recovery of nickel and zinc, nickel worth of 3,500 to 4,000 euros per tonne. However, three years ago, it cost 40,000 euros...

Hundreds of millions of euros

Another problem for industrialization, the electric car being recent and marginal, there are few batteries for recycling. Result: for Veolia, which has a common development with Renault, "the goal is to have in two years a proven technology for industrialization, but without time horizon to build a plant, because there is not yet market", explains Pascal Muller. Récupyl hopes to take a step ahead and occupy as early as now the niche of the defective productions. "We think at a pilot plant which can accommodate 800 tonnes of batteries for recycling, which would be established France mid-2011." "This would be the first in Europe," said Farouk Tedjiar. Toxco group is preparing him also a factory driver for the Canada, and it already exists in the Japan, with a capacity of 600 tonnes.

But when the deposit for recycling will become important (experts suggest 2020 or 2025), the necessary investment to recycling in large scale the réserveront large group. "The cost of a recycling unit is its ability to function, says Stephan Csoma, Vice-President of Umicore." For precious metals, for example, with a capacity of 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes, the investment is of the order of EUR 1 billion. For electric vehicle batteries, it will be several hundred million.