Umicore acquires battery recycling for Tesla Motors in Europe

Tesla Motors released details of the recycling strategy for its battery packs in Europe.

To develop in the future with more and more electric vehicles on our roads increases, so does the need for approaches to recycling of traction Dell Studio 1737 battery. The automotive industry was already facing a similar situation, so as a recycling solution was for the 12-volt lead-acid starter batteries to find the car to come in every day use. Meanwhile, these batteries are among the products with the highest recycling rate, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimatesThat today 99% of all lead acid batteries to be recycled.

The U.S. firm Tesla has now announced that it will let its lithium-ion Dell Inspiron 6400 battery recycle at the end of their lifespan in the UHT system (Ultra High Temperature) of Umicore in Belgium. The Brussels-based company will recover from the spent battery packs cobalt, nickel and other metals.

“We see the recycling program by Tesla Motors over the last few years have improved. Before we send the packets to the Dell Latitude E6500 battery recycling, we can re-use is already about 10% (by weight), for example, the battery case and some electrical components. In North America we are working with the Brothers Kinsbursky to recycle about 60 percent of the Dell Vostro 1500 battery pack. In Europe we have now begun to cooperate with Umicore, and soon we will also news on recycling in Asia, “writes Director of Tesla’s Energy Storage System, Kurt Kelty, in a Blog.

According to Tesla Umicore converts the cobalt in a high-grade cobalt oxide lithium-order, which can be sold to battery manufacturers. Some of the few by-products arising here is a clean inert slag, which contains calcium oxide and lithium. The slag can be used to produce high-quality concrete.

“Nearly 5 percent of global man-produced CO2 emissions arise from the production of cement. This raw material substitutes to replace, reduce CO2 emissions and the consumption of non renewable resources is considerable. This “byproduct” of the construction industry offers the possibility replacement products as an environmentally friendly alternative, “says Kurt Kelty further.

The recycling technology will enable Umicore to save 70% of CO2 emissions, since the residual plastic materials during the melting process generate so much heat that no additional energy is supplied from the outside.

Tesla builds and sells in three years the Tesla Roadster. During this time, the Silicon Valley-based company for recycling and the use of non-toxic substances has been established. Tesla customers must pay for the recycling of the Dell Inspiron 1520 battery pack anything when it is removed after seven to ten years or 160,000 miles.