Fortum Battery Recycling announces a new manufacturing approach to ensure “faster, cheaper and more energy-efficient production of cathode and anode materials”. The Finnish company is planning a pilot plant for this purpose.

Fortum Battery Recycling has been awarded a grant from government business development agency Business Finland for a new test production facility for battery materials.

The goal of the facility is to pilot a new method for producing cathode and anode materials. Fortum says its patent-pending new process will allow “faster, more cost-effective and energy-efficient production of cathode and anode materials,” including lithium titanium oxide (LTO), compared to the conventional process.

The approach is also expected to be able to use recycled battery chemicals, such as lithium, produced at Fortum’s own hydrometallurgical recycling facility in Harjavalta.

Fortum has not yet revealed the location of the new plant, nor further details about when it will begin operations. The amount of funding the pilot plant has been granted is also being held under wraps for the moment.

In addition to the funding granted for the pilot recycling plant, Fortum Battery Recycling has also been awarded a €4.5 million grant from the national business development agency Business Finland, independently of the grant mentioned above, to expand its mechanical processing capabilities at its facility in Ikaalinen, Finland, including a new type of mechanical shredder and related equipment.