News & Events

The Horizon Europe projects EXCEED and ENICON, members of Cluster Hub  for “Production of raw materials for batteries from European Resources”, co-organise  a joint  capacity building webinar on 21 June.  The webinar targets postgraduate students, as well as early-stage researchers.

Four lectures will be given by Priyadharshini Perumal (UOulu), Fernando Prado Araujo (KU Leuven), Daniel Monfort Climent (BRGM), and Ruben Snellings (KU Leuven), who are experts in their fields.

Interested parties are invited to register here before 19/06/2024.

The registered participants will receive an email with the workshop’s Zoom link.

The LIFE DRONE project aims to develop an innovative process for recycling lithium-ion batteries, thus contributing to a more sustainable management of the waste generated by these energy storage solutions that reach the end of their life.

The project coordinator recently launched an online survey to assess the potential interest audiences might have in recycling processes. Additionally, the interest spans also towards understanding the impact brought by the adoption and implementation of battery recycling processes at individual and community scales.

Every contribution is anonymous and can become helpful in guiding future activities such as the ones initiated by the LIFE DRONE project.  The project’s coordination team is very grateful for all inputs. Filling in this survey takes 3 minutes.

Fill in the survey

The first International Circular Hydrometallurgy Symposium (ICHS 2024), organised by SOLVOMET – KU Leuven’s Research and Innovation Centre for Circular Hydrometallurgy, will take place in Mechelen, Belgium, between 9-11 September.

Discover the ICHS 2024 programme

Various member projects of our Cluster Hub will organise a satellite event in conjuction with ICHS 2024 titled “Towards responsible mining and processing of energy-transition metals in Europe: A mere pipedream or a realistic opportunity?”.

The Raw Materials Summit is a call-to-action – a platform – for industry leaders, educators and innovative new talent to share their vision for a sustainable raw materials future. The aim is to raise awareness of the critical role of raw materials, exchange knowledge and break down the barriers that delay sustainable value chains.

The event will take place this year at The Egg Brussels, Rue Bara 175, 1070 Bruxelles, Belgium, between 14 and 16 May.

The transition to clean energy means changing how we identify, source, use and re-use raw materials. We are all dependent on a sustainable raw materials supply and need to play an active role in the creation and maintenance of a responsible raw materials sector.

Join Europe’s metals industry on Thursday 18 April, for the launch of a quantifiable, six-part recipe for Europe to deliver Critical Raw Materials Act resilience by 2030. The event is hosted by Eurometaux.

High-level speakers will be debating where, how, and when the next European Commission and Parliament need to act with real ambition for getting Europe back in the global race for clean tech supply chains.

In a turbulent world of subsidies and geopolitics, Europe has to create a best-in-class “industrial kitchen”, so its strategic industries can not only survive, but also thrive – and prospects show potential to ensure European resilience.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Marek Balt, MEP
• Hildegard Bentele, MEP
• Kerstin Jorna, Director General, DG Grow
• Judith Kirton Darling, General Secretary, IndustriALL
• Sara Matthieu, MEP
• Evangelos Mytilineos, CEO Mytilineos
• Julia Poliscanova, Senior Clean Vehicles Director, Transport & Environment
• Peter Tom Jones, KU Leuven

The event will take place at the Autoworld, from 13:30 to 17:00 followed by a cocktail, with a possibility to attend remotely.

In-person places are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

More information

This Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) is a co-creation by the European Commission and the Batteries European Partnership Association (BEPA). In the development of the SRIA, BEPA has worked closely together with the Batteries Europe Secretariat. BEPA and Batteries Europe have collected input from the wider European Batteries R&I Community by organising six Working Groups and several Task Forces, of which the total attendance figures reach in the hundreds.

The recently published SRIA replaces the BATT4EU SRIA of 2021 and lists the key strategic actions outline that the European Batteries R&I Community that can bring leverage to collaborative research projects put forward by the BATT4EU Partnership, members of  the Cluster Hub “Production of raw materials for batteries” included. The SRIA builds on the Roadmaps which have been published by Batteries Europe and Battery 2030+ and is the results of the combined inputs of numerous stakeholders from the European battery landscape.

The new SRIA outlines time-based research and innovation priorities for every part of the battery value chain and points to 6 imperatives that need tackling in order to increase the competitiveness of the European battery value chain.

The 6 imperatives outlined in the new SRIA

• Ensure research and innovation match industry needs to translate into gigafactories and markets
• Increase the strategic autonomy of Europe by reducing the reliance on imported critical raw materials
• Improve battery affordability to accelerate the green transition and keep the European industry competitive
• Improve the flexibility of battery manufacturing and recycling systems
• Implement a safe and sustainable by design framework for batteries
• Support the continuity of excellent European battery research and academic-industrial

Download the official document

On 20 March 2024, BATT4EU is organising a webinar to present the new Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for batteries.
Register to the webinar

On the occasion of the new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for batteries, BATT4EU Partnership is organising a webinar on 20 March 2024, between 10:00 and 11:30 Brussels time. The aim is to present the official document and to host engaging discussions with the experts behind this publication who will explain how this document will redefine the dynamics for the European battery sector.

The SRIA publication serves as a reference for Industry, Member States, Policy Makers and Researchers to highlight key technological challenges, promote research and innovation, and guide funding priorities across Europe.

Download the official document

RAWMINA and CRM-geothermal projects, both funded under the Horizon Europe programme and members of the Cluster Hub “Production of raw materials for batteries”, are organising a joint webinar on 12 March 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 CET.

This collaborative effort embodies the spirit of innovation and cooperation driving European initiatives towards sustainable resource management. Both projects are at the forefront of developing cutting-edge technologies aimed at revolutionising critical raw materials (CRM) extraction methodologies. Utilising advanced techniques such as adsorption and other innovative separation methods, RAWMINA and CRM-geothermal are redefining possibilities in critical raw materials recovery from mine waste and geothermal fluids.

The webinar serves as a platform to delve into the intersecting realms of RAWMINA and CRM-geothermal, facilitating an exchange of insights and discoveries.

Key objectives:

• Sharing Research Insights: Presenting initial research findings and milestones achieved by both projects, offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of CRM extraction technologies.
• Engaging with the Public: Fostering dialogue and knowledge exchange with stakeholders, academia, industry experts, and the public to cultivate a collective understanding of the challenges and opportunities in CRM extraction.
• Exploring Collaborative Opportunities: Discovering synergies and forging pathways for collaboration with other initiatives like the Cluster Hub and the Raw Materials Helix

Register here

On 19 February 2024, the  EXCEED Horizon Europe funded research project organises the 1^st Capacity Building Seminar.

The seminar will be held online. Three lectures will be given by Prof. Lev Filippov (University of Lorraine), Prof. Valerie Cappuyns. (KU Leuven), Toni Eerola Senior Specialist, (Geologist, Geological Survey of Finland), who are experts in their fields.

The target group of the seminar involves mainly graduate and post graduate students and early stage researchers, however all students and researchers in topics related to EXCEED’s objectives are welcome!

Registration is open by 15/02/2024. Registered participants will receive an email with the workshop’s Zoom link.

Register here

The detailed program is the following:

Despite diverse objective, various member projects of the Cluster Hub “Production of raw materials for batteries from European resources”  have shown growing interest in the Digital Battery Passport, an initiative of FREE4LIB. This collaboration between hub members shows our commitment to contributing to the European battery community through the exchange of knowledge and experience.

The FREE4LIB workshop, held on 10 January 2024, had a three-fold objective, including a brief presentation of the preliminary results of the battery passport concept development, the outline of the implementation challenges and potential follow-ups of industrial scale-up, and the clear differentiation between battery second use (B2U) versus recycling. The event drew nearly 50 participants from various segments of the battery value chain, which ensured a comprehensive and multifaceted perspective of the subject matter.

The introductive session presented the FREE4LIB project, briefly highlighting past achievements and focusing mainly on the remaining activities outlined in the workplan. The following session was led by Julius Ott (industrial engineer with expertise in circular economy at Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz). During the past year, researchers at Univ. of Graz worked on finalising data collection and processing related to the development of a data model of the digital passport platform which aims to close the information gap between beginning-of-life (BoL) and end-of-life (EoL) battery lifetime. This interactive session turned out to be an appropriate opportunity for researchers at Univ. of Graz to present the outcomes of their data collection and handling, and to evaluate their relevance within the reality portrayed by the workshop attendees.

Participants, predominantly familiarised with the EU-funded battery projects, confirmed the findings reported by Univ. of Graz. However, they also raised concerns about data sharing. The outcomes of the interactive session, complementing prior research, will serve as valuable guidance for the FREE4LIB project in implementing the battery passport within their project.

Download workshop results