Results

Key Outcomes per Work Package

• Work Package 1 - Project Management

  WP1 established the organisational framework and support mechanisms to keep the RELiEF project on track and ensure milestones were met on time. Building on this, robust management and communication structures were set up, activities, deliverables and deadlines centrally monitored, and scientific coordination maintained via consortium meetings. Deviations in finances and workflows were managed through structured risk management, mitigation actions, and continuous communication with the EC.

  

• Work Package 2 - Material Sourcing and Definition of Use Cases

  WP2 aimed to provide source materials for process development and define use-case studies for final output materials, supported by market research and EU-wide data organisation on available sources. In RELiEF, use-case analyses and requirements for materials and intermediates were developed, alongside an assessment of secondary lithium resource availability in the EU. The work clarified that non-battery lithium waste streams in Europe offer very limited recovery potential due to technical and economic barriers, refocusing attention on end-of-life batteries as the more viable route.

  

• Work Package 3 - Pre-Processing

  WP3 focused on pre-treating solid input material to eliminate hazardous factors and improve suitability for leaching, enabling high leaching yield. The RELiEF team validated proposed pre-processing approaches for solids containing hazardous lithium metal substances and evaluated performance gains versus baseline comminution. Testing (including the VERO Liberation Process) indicated limited additional downstream benefits compared to established disc and ball milling approaches. Based on these findings, the original conversion KPI was reassessed in light of scientific and technological relevance, enabling a strategic refocus on processing steps with greater overall impact

  

• Work Package 4 - Effective Leaching

  WP4 aimed to develop an effective leaching technology for two solid secondary streams (lithium metal slag and mine tailings), converting solid metal into solution while keeping environmental impacts low. The RELiEF project demonstrated leaching on representative solid inputs (mine tailing and heap material and Li/Al alloy dust) and targeted high-yield leaching with improved kinetics and reduced energy demand. A machine-learning model was developed to compare leaching techniques and support process selection for an integrated flowsheet, while low lithium selectivity was identified early as a risk and addressed via downstream mitigation planning.

  

• Work Package 5 - Selective Recovery and Purification of Lithium

  WP5 set out to develop and demonstrate separation concepts to recover lithium from WP4 leachates (and suitable liquid sources) in a way that is more techno-economically efficient and more sustainable than current industrial state-of-the-art. Within RELiEF, solvent extraction was identified as the most scalable route to produce lithium-rich solutions feeding subsequent precursor steps. While the targeted purity KPI was not fully reached, the work achieved strong performance – about 98.6% purity with greater than 90% overall recovery efficiency – providing a validated basis for downstream battery-grade product development.

  

• Work Package 6 - Battery Material Closed Loop

  WP6 aimed to recover materials capable of closing the loop back to battery-material requirements, including lithium precursor materials and repaired LFP and lithium-metal pathways. The RELiEF team developed precipitation-based production of high-purity lithium carbonate, achieving reproducible ~98.29% purity (with ~74.65% recovery), and mapped the purity-yield trade-off introduced by washing steps. In parallel, the project developed and optimised cathode relithiation to restore degraded LFP to high electrochemical performance, and advanced room-temperature lithium electrodeposition as a route toward next-generation lithium-metal anodes.

  

• Work Package 7 - Material Validation and Process Demonstration

  WP7 aimed to validate materials recovered in WP6 and demonstrate the overall process using the developed flowsheet. The RELiEF project validated regenerated LFP cathode material in coin cells, showing performance comparable to commercial references (first-cycle coulombic efficiency slightly above 90% in tested cases), with some samples outperforming commercial LFP at high rates as cycling tests continued. To support TRL-5 demonstration planning, the consortium selected least-impactful technologies (environmental, cost and social) with highest lithium recovery via a scoring matrix and integrated multiple feedstocks into the process flow design, creating a flexible, continuous flowsheet concept aligned with high-recovery goals.

  

• Work Package 8 - Sustainability Assessment and Business Modelling

  WP8 aimed to mature a Digital Data Platform (DDP) to map and gather physical, monetary and social data enabling iterative environmental, cost and social assessments, and to develop a business model for upscaling the centralised facility beyond the project. RELiEF delivered the SUNDIAL DDP concept and carried out LCA and LCC assessments that supported technology selection for upscaling based on lab-scale results, including comparative insights on lithium carbonate synthesis routes and benchmarking RELiEF products versus commercial references for LFP regeneration. The work also advanced stakeholder and market analysis and procurement planning for a sustainable business plan (CAPEX and OPEX ongoing) and conducted a social impact assessment (policy analysis plus 13 stakeholder interviews), identifying recurring social risks across the value chain.

  

• Work Package 9 - Innovation Management: Communication, Dissemination, Exploitation

  WP9 aimed to ensure impact-oriented innovation management by delivering consistent communication and dissemination for visibility and stakeholder outreach, supported by strategic exploitation and IP management to capture and use results effectively. The RELiEF project implemented core communication assets (public website, toolkit, and social media channels) and executed extensive dissemination, including cluster hub activities, 40+ dissemination actions, and numerous peer-reviewed publications. Exploitation readiness was strengthened through workshops validating Key Exploitable Results and clarifying result ownership and IP pathways, supporting the multi-faceted uptake of project outcomes.