As an emerging, much-hyped concept, the practical meaning and implications of the circular economy can be difficult to grasp. To stop value chain stakeholders and public authorities from going around in circles, Bax & Company's new Life After Linear series breaks down a clear, circular story for some of the most important material value chains of Europe’s low-carbon future.
In this opening edition, Battery Innovation consultant Piotr Grudzień investigates the challenge ahead for bringing batteries, the enablers of an electrified Europe, into the circular economy, and presents four different approaches:
- Reduce
- Repair
- Repurpose
- Recycle
Various approaches in battery circularity are best described by the 4R principle. This model prioritises waste reduction in the design phase, followed by extending the product’s lifetime through battery repair, giving batteries a second life in different applications by repurposing, and recovering valuable metals through recycling. Each approach faces multiple technical challenges, largely influences market dynamics and to some extent is incentivised by EU regulations. These curious interdependencies are explained separately for each of the 4Rs.
To read the full insight on the Bax & Company website, see here.