Joana Gouveia is an Environmental Engineer and currently enrolled as a PhD student at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP). She has worked initially as a researcher for the University of Savoie Mont Blanc in France, and then as an environmental consultant for the industry in Coimbra, Portugal. In 2018, she delved into research activities at FEUP for life cycle assessment of vanadium flow batteries. Joana then joined INEGI as a Sustainability Assessment researcher for national and European projects, with publications on life cycle sustainability of products and systems.

1. In a nutshell, could you briefly describe what RELiEF is all about?
RELiEF is a Horizon Europe project dedicated to the development of circular value chains for lithium. The general idea is to recover lithium from secondary streams and bring it to a level of purification where it can be integrated into the Li-ion battery production market. Not only will these new processes alleviate some pressure on lithium demand from primary sources, but will also help to develop new circular streams in the battery value chain, potentially reducing costs as well as environmental and social impacts.

2. What is the impact of RELiEF? Who will benefit the most?
The groundwork conducted in the RELiEF project will support Europe in the development of a more resilient market for energy storage, as well as reduce the dependency on outside sources for these materials that are crucial for the technological advancement of energy storage solutions. Several industries will also benefit from the development of secondary sources of lithium, such as the metallurgical and the recycling industries, that can add value to their secondary streams and create new business opportunities. These opportunities created by RELiEF’s results can generate new business networks that are more circular, while at the same time potentially reduce the production costs of Li-ion batteries, as well as the environmental impacts in the battery value chain.

3. Could you briefly describe your institutional and personal role within the RELiEF project?
RELiEF has a great consortium of experts that complement each other perfectly to work together for the success of the project. The INEGI institute is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) with around 300 employees, well-equipped research laboratories and extensive engineering tools to support R&D activity, as well as prototyping. Our team in RELiEF is part of the sustainability research area for products & systems development, that has been working with life cycle approaches for sustainability and product circularity for years. We are leaders of work package 8 (WP8) “Sustainability Assessment and Business Modelling”, working alongside the RELiEF partners LUT, TC and ABEE. More specifically, we are responsible for the environmental life cycle assessment as well as the cost assessment of the developed processes and case studies. We are also working with our IT colleagues here in INEGI, to develop a digital data gathering platform personalized for the project’s needs. I am the team leader, and with the support of my amazing colleagues and the other RELiEF partners, I believe that the project will provide promising results. This project is also very important for me personally, since it will support my PhD thesis in sustainability assessment of new valorisation streams for the next generation of batteries.

4. Which results have already been achieved on your end and what will be the next milestones?
In WP8, our team has been focusing on developing the digital data platform. Right now, we have launched the first version with the completion of the front-end development. In this first stage, some partners will have access to the platform in order to conduct tests and do bug detection. By the start of this summer, we will have the platform ready and adapted to the project’s needs in order to gather the information for the characterisation of the processes in terms of costs, materials and energy consumption, waste generation and efficiency. The platform, named SUNDIAL, will not only support the environmental and cost life cycle studies of WP8, but also the business modelling linked to the social assessment study that is being led by our colleagues at LUT.

5. For you personally, what has been the most exciting/most challenging part of the project so far?
The most challenging part of the project currently has been developing this new platform! It is very exciting to create new tools for well-established and matured approaches that have not suffered much change. The final version will be ready by the beginning of summer, where the tool will automatically generate life cycle models, which in turn will support us in expediting the results. The main objective is to support the partners from other work packages in design development with environmental and economic parameters. Further down the line, we are looking at integrating machine learning algorithms to elevate and enhance this tool. Robust inventories lead to reliable results, and this is very important not only for the project, but also for our team’s strategic goals for R&D.

6. Which are the most significant challenges and opportunities related to the recycling of raw materials in your opinion?
In my opinion, it is very important to validate the economic viability of the recycling processes in order to ensure a sustainable and consistent business model from which other stakeholders in the battery value chain can rely on to provide these potentially new sources of critical materials, as is the case with lithium. This entails not only low operational costs, but also the availability of the secondary streams. This important work will be analysed by INEGI in the cost assessment, through the perspective of the relevant stakeholders i.e., the recycling industry. These results will also support the task of business modelling, led by our colleagues at LUT and with the support of ABEE and TC. Nonetheless, there is a significant opportunity regarding lithium, as it is one of the most important materials for the energy transition regarding electric mobility. With current market demands on the rise, it is of upmost importance to find ways to keep lithium in the battery loop as much as possible, to avoid putting more pressure on the market and accelerating the depletion of the natural resources.

7. How will RELiEF concretely contribute to the reduction of lithium waste in the future?
RELiEF project aims to minimise the generation of lithium waste by recovering it from secondary streams. Currently, the project is analysing processes that are still in low levels of development to conduct the recovery process. But if validated, the project can open doors for new sources of lithium. Moreover, these new processes can help to increase purified lithium availability in the market without increasing the demand for primary lithium. This will support reducing impacts on the environment and local communities. In addition, in higher levels of development it is expected that these alternative sources can reduce the cost of lithium in general and consequently of battery production costs.

1. In a nutshell, could you briefly describe what RELiEF is all about?
RELiEF project is about reducing Lithium (Li) waste from unused secondary Li sources.

2. What is the impact of RELiEF? Who will benefit the most?
The impact is multidimensional. It covers, among others , the environment (waste reduction), social (sustainability awareness), political and institutional (implementation of effective policies to encourage and support circular business models), battery factories (adoption of recycling in battery manufacture).

3. Could you briefly describe your institutional and personal role within the RELiEF project?
The institution's role is to coordinate the project, providing a defined organizational framework, guidance, supervision, and revision of all project activities. At the scientific level, it provides support in the pre-treatment, characterization, material validation, and process demonstration. The project's coordination is my personal role.

4. Which results have already been achieved on your end and what will be the next milestones?
Apart from the ongoing activities that the coordination entails, so far, we have reported on the use cases, KPI and test definition as well as materials and intermediate requirements. Results that are essential to precisely defining the project's guiding criteria. The next milestone is to ensure the delivery of the waste pre-processed material to conduct the effective leaching processes.

5. For you personally, what has been the most exciting/most challenging part of the project so far?
There are numerous aspects of the project that I am excited about. The fact of connecting with people towards a common goal is exciting. Every partner has their own viewpoint and expertise in the field, so being able to connect with them, learn, and solve practical problems is what I enjoy the most.

6. Which are the most significant challenges and opportunities related to the recycling of raw materials in your opinion?
The hardest part, in my opinion, is to translate recycling and sustainability concepts and/or ideas—which often are very ambitious—into practical, effective solutions. But once a solution is found, it inspires the next one, and one realizes that earlier recycling challenges are easier to solve than previously believed.

7. How will RELiEF concretely contribute to the reduction of lithium waste in the future?
RELiEF offers the opportunity to combine innovative recycling technologies and exploitation strategies into one main goal, to reduce the Li waste. The outcome of the project will definitely help to improving future recycling processes as it implements a panel of different recycling technologies and unique scientific expertise that would not otherwise be possible to integrate.

Mihai Olaru is a PhD graduate from the University of Politehnica Bucharest, Faculty of Material Science and Engineering. His research career at IMNR began in 2014 where he has since been involved in many different projects dealing with new alloys, new technologies and recycling of non-ferrous metals from different types of waste. Drawing upon his experience and expertise in materials science and engineering, Mihai Olaru has channelled his passion for the energy sector towards developing and optimising innovative recycling technologies, with a particular focus on batteries materials.

1. In your opinion, what is RELiEF all about?
The RELiEF project is all about minimising the waste generation by taking advantage of the secondary lithium sources and producing new resources for the growing battery industry sector. This type of project could contribute in lowing the demand for opening new exploitation sites for raw material and help secondary sources gain traction in the lithium market.

2. What is the impact of the project? Who will benefit from it the most?
The impact of the project is significant, as it will contribute to reducing the lithium waste generation, decreasing the EU's dependency on imported battery chemicals and raw materials, and strengthening the EU's competitiveness in the battery storage value chain. The project will benefit a range of stakeholders, including the recycling and battery industry, policymakers, and ultimately, consumers who use lithium-based products.

3. Could you briefly describe your institutional and personal role within the RELiEF project?
The RELiEF project involves a consortium of 12 partners, including innovative SMEs, non-profit RTOs and universities. The National Research&Development Institute for Non-Ferrous and Rare Metals (IMNR) is the leader of work package 6 where its main task is the extraction of metallic lithium from purified solutions of lithium provided by the partners in work package 5. The methodology of extraction is based on high yield in lithium extraction and low environmental impact of the processes.

4. How will the results achieved by IMNR contribute to the decrease of dependency on Lithium regarding the goals of the projects?
The results achieved by IMNR will contribute to the decrease of dependency on lithium by developing a sustainable and efficient process for recovering metallic lithium from secondary sources. This will help increase the overall supply of lithium and reduce the need for importing lithium from outside the EU, which will ultimately contribute to decreasing the EU's dependency on imported battery materials.

5. For you personally, what have been the most exciting/most challenging parts of the project so far?
The most exciting and in the same time challenging part of the project for me has been gathering all the resources and the knowledge into one goal: extracting the metallic lithium from provided material. It takes a lot of planning, thinking, reading, trials and failures to reach the goal but I am sure it is all worth it. It is a very positive experience that helps me grow.

6. Which are the most significant challenges and opportunities related to the recycling of raw materials in your opinion?
In my opinion, the most significant challenges related to the recycling of raw materials include technological barriers and economic feasibility. These two factors decide the implementation in the market. However, there are also significant opportunities, such as reducing waste, conserving natural resources, and creating a more circular economy where no waste is left behind.

7. How will RELiEF concretely contribute to the reduction of lithium waste in the future?
RELiEF contributes to the reduction of lithium waste in the future by developing and optimising sustainable methods for the recovery of lithium from secondary sources, which will reduce lithium containing waste. This will reduce the environmental impact of lithium mining and production by lowering the primary material demand and contribute to strengthening the EU's competitiveness in the battery storage value chain.

Joana Almeida has a PhD in Eco-Construction and Rehabilitation, CENSE (2021) and a MSc in Environmental Engineering (2015), both from NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon. Her research work has focused the electro-based technologies development for critical raw materials recovery, harmful compounds removal and hydrogen production from wastewater and secondary mining resources. Further reuses of secondary resources in construction materials, and life cycle assessment approaches to optimize technological processes have also been a research topic.

1. In a nutshell, could you briefly describe what RELiEF is all about?
The RELiEF project aims to assess the recovery of lithium (Li) from potential liquid and solid secondary resources, to reduce global Li waste generation, in a circular economy perspective.

2. What is the impact of RELiEF? Who will benefit the most?
This project aims to contribute to decrease EU dependency on imported battery chemicals and raw materials and improve EU competitiveness in the value chain of battery storage. Also, it will strength the bridge between companies and academia, once small/medium-sized enterprises, non-profit real-time operating systems, universities and associated industrial partners are working together to achieve these goals, promoting knowledge transfer between entities.

3. Could you briefly describe your institutional and personal role within the RELiEF project?
NOVA wants to be part of the green energy transition, contributing for the development of new sustainable strategies. I have been a researcher on electrodialytic technologies for critical raw materials recovery, from several environmental matrices. The electrodialytic process consists in the application of a low current density (mA), between pairs of electrodes, to promote the separation/removal of substances. In this sense, I am applying this process to recover lithium from secondary liquid and solid resources, such as secondary lepidolite mining resources, effluent from lithium batteries recycling, and pharmaceutical effluent with lithium content.

4. Which results have already been achieved on your end and what will be the next milestones?
Deep eutectic solvents, and inorganic/organic acids and bases were tested for lithium leaching, with low Li extraction (below 20%) from mine tailings. On the other hand, electro-based technologies demonstrated favourable results for the recovery of lithium from the effluent of batteries recycling (maximum Li recovery achieved = 88%) and low potential for Li recovery from lepidolite secondary resources (maximum Li recovery achieved = 30%). The next steps will be to deep the study on lithium recovery from effluents, that have shown promising results.

5. For you personally, what has been the most exciting/most challenging part of the project so far?
Apart from all the interesting scientific research on critical raw materials recovery from different samples with lithium, the opportunity to collaborate with external partners, and learn from different know-hows and areas of expertise is being very inspiring.

6. Which are the most significant challenges and opportunities related to the recycling of raw materials in your opinion?
The challenges are related to the complexity of methods, and its optimization. However, the development of new strategies is highly empowered by the EU commission and may promote to add value to secondary resources and create new markets for approaches that provide a safe and efficient manner to recover critical raw materials.

7. How will RELiEF concretely contribute to the reduction of lithium waste in the future?
Lithium is now considered a critical raw material due to the high risk of scarcity and economic value, and a strategic element due to its role towards clean energy transition. Moreover, the lithium demand is expected to quadruplicate in 8 years. In a circular perspective, if lithium could be recovered in medium-high grades from resources that are considered waste, such as mining residues and effluents from related industries, this could contribute not only to reduce the lithium waste generation, but also the primary exploitation of lithium.