TES, a provider of sustainable technology lifecycle services, has taken over a recycling facility at the Port Of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest seaport, from Battery Recycling Services Netherlands. TES plans to focus the facility on the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. TES already operates similar facilities in Grenoble, France and in Singapore.
The facility currently covers 10,000 square meters, and an option to extend onto a neighboring plot could increase the size to over 40,000 square meters. The company already has a basic waste license to manage EV batteries and battery production scrap, as well as a license to shred alkaline batteries. The site extension is planned to be fully operational by late 2022.
For TES, taking over this facility is a strategic move in preparation for the predicted rise in global demand for lithium-ion batteries. Under the European Green Deal, beginning in 2027, battery-makers will have to declare the content of recycled cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel their products contain. The Green Deal also sets out goals for 2030 onwards to significantly improve the recycled content of metals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium.
A 2020 report from Circular Energy Storage found that Europe needs considerably more capacity for sustainable lithium battery recycling in order to meet waste generation targets by 2030.
Allard Castelein, CEO at the Port of Rotterdam, commented, “We are working not only towards a net zero CO2 emission port and industry in 2050 but also looking at ways to make the industry more circular. The TES project in Rotterdam is exactly that. This could very well become the largest European facility for recycling batteries from electric cars.”
Source: TES