To date, economically viable recycling of traction batteries remains a challenge in Europe. Key cost drivers include high transportation expenses, the capital intensity of hydrometallurgical facilities, and the energy demands of thermal treatment processes. Lasting solutions require a shift in perspective: from optimizing isolated steps to designing an integrated system that aligns stakeholders and processes across the entire battery value chain.

Europe’s ambition to lead in battery innovation and sustainability is being tested by complex economic and logistical realities. Today, the recycling of traction batteries remains economically strained—burdened by high transport costs, energy-intensive processes, and the capital demands of large-scale hydrometallurgy.
But solving these challenges isn’t just a technical question—it’s a systems challenge.

Christopher will open the summit with a call to rethink how we design, collaborate, and scale. He will outline why isolated optimizations—whether in recycling technology or regulation—are not enough. Instead, we must reimagine the battery value chain as a connected, circular ecosystem: one that builds in resilience, local value creation, and material recapture from the start.

The opening remarks set the stage for two days of dialogue, innovation, and cross-sector action—aimed at accelerating a battery ecosystem that is not only circular, but truly built to last.

A comprehensive overview of installed and planned recycling capacity across the region, breaking down trends in feedstock availability, technology adoption, and market positioning.

Gain data-driven insight into the volumes of manufacturing scrap vs. end-of-life batteries, the shifting economics of recycled materials, and how policy and regulation are influencing investment, innovation, and strategic partnerships.

This is not a component-level issue. It is a system behaviour problem, emerging only when aircraft are operated as fleets, not prototypes.

The challenge is no longer whether eVTOL aircraft can fly—it is whether they can operate continuously, reliably, and economically at scale.

Key Learning Objectives:

As battery retirement rates surge, Europe’s recycling infrastructure faces an inflection point. Most current facilities remain pilot-scale or semi-industrial, unable to process the expected flood of end-of-life batteries projected for the 2030s. Explores how industry leaders are bridging the gap between today’s limited capacity and tomorrow’s volume demands through process optimization, modular plant design, and data-driven planning.

How to scale up safely, economically, and sustainably—without compromising recovery rates or regulatory compliance.

China boasts unmatched capacity, advanced hydrometallurgical processes, and seamless vertical integration from raw materials to cathode production. For Europe to remain competitive and secure its own circular battery ecosystem, it must strike a balance between building local scale and selectively collaborating with Chinese players.

This session explores how European OEMs, recyclers, and material suppliers can learn from China’s industrial model while preserving strategic autonomy.

Topics include technology benchmarking, licensing vs proprietary IP, supply chain integration, and how Europe can shape a regulatory and investment environment that supports domestic innovation and global competitiveness.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks across Europe and globally are demanding more from OEMs and battery manufacturers. From regulatory mandates to environmental accountability, producers must now implement efficient, auditable, and scalable take-back systems—despite fragmented infrastructure and rising logistics costs.

This session will share real-world insights from the front lines of designing global battery take-back programs, focusing on how to meet compliance while optimizing reverse logistics. Drawing on field experience in cross-border collection, transport safety, partner coordination, and cost modeling, the presentation will offer practical strategies for building a robust EV battery collection supply chain that aligns with both regulatory expectations and business economics.

Actionable ideas to scale take-back operations profitably ahead of the volume surge expected post-2030

Shifting from basic metal recovery to the production of high-purity, battery-grade materials that can re-enter the supply chain. This session examines the technical, chemical, and industrial challenges involved in refining black mass into precursor cathode active materials (pCAM) and cathode active materials (CAM) suitable for next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

Insights into material separation techniques, impurity control, and chemical purification processes that are enabling the shift from commodity-grade outputs to closed-loop, circular material streams.

Special attention will be given to the integration of hydrometallurgical and thermal processing pathways, the development of industrial partnerships between recyclers and cathode manufacturers, and the performance validation of recycled materials in real battery cells.

The gap between battery performance optimization and end-of-life recyclability is a major barrier to circularity. Current cell-to-pack and structural battery designs, while advantageous for weight and range, complicate safe and cost-effective disassembly, material separation, and recycling. This session addresses how OEMs, battery designers, and recyclers can rethink battery architecture for easier end-of-life processing—without compromising performance.

Actionable design-for-disassembly strategies, including reversible adhesives, standardized fasteners, modular packs, and material labeling—all while maintaining structural integrity and thermal performance.

A call to action to scale next-gen low-temperature battery recycling solutions.
This session explores how Duesenfeld GmbH’s cutting-edge, low-temperature direct recycling process recovers high-value materials—including electrolyte solvents—in a form suitable for reuse in new cells.

Building on recent R&D breakthroughs and successful pilot-scale validations, Andrea Mirandola will share insights into the technical challenges and solutions involved in recovering and rebalancing complex cathode chemistries and electrolytes. Attendees will gain a transparent view of what works, what doesn’t, and why collaboration is critical to bridging the gap between lab-scale success and industrial-scale implementation.

This is more than a technical update—it’s a strategic call to OEMs, cell manufacturers, and system integrators: let’s co-develop the next phase of circular battery recovery. With the foundation proven, the opportunity now lies in joint scale-up efforts that can help the entire industry meet regulatory demands and sustainability goals.

Graphite is the backbone of lithium-ion batteries. As Europe scales up gigafactories, securing low-carbon, sustainable supply is critical. Vianode is pioneering the integration of recycled graphite into commercial-scale anode material production, closing the loop while reducing reliance on virgin resources.

Through proprietary process technologies and a targeted CO₂e reduction strategy, Vianode is building an industrial platform where innovation meets impact.
With the EU Battery Regulation mandating recycled content and tightening sustainability requirements, graphite recycling is no longer optional – it’s a market necessity. Yet, challenges remain: aligning regulations with real incentives, and bridging the gap between circular ambitions and market adoption

Key Discussion Points:

As the EV industry embraces digital product passports, the conversation must move beyond the concept of battery passports to the trust infrastructure that enables them. This session focuses on the compliance frameworks, open standards, and technology stack – such as GAIA-X, IDTA, and International Data Spaces (IDS), that make secure, sovereign data sharing possible across the entire product lifecycle.

Rooted in European values of data sovereignty, transparency, and interoperability, the session provides attendees with a clear understanding of how semantic technologies and governance models support regulatory compliance and scalable implementation.

The session concludes with a call to action for stakeholders to actively contribute to shaping and deploying trusted data ecosystems for battery lifecycle transparency.

Key Discussion Points:

As Europe accelerates its push for sustainable battery supply chains, the ability to recycle materials at scale and with efficiency is critical. This keynote will provide a deep dive into the technical and process-oriented challenges of creating true end-to-end recycling plants—from safe discharging and disassembly of EV batteries through to shredding, hydrometallurgical processing, and delivery of high-purity recovered materials.

The presentation will share the perspective of a leading German recycling technology provider, based near Cologne and Düsseldorf, on how integrated solutions can optimize processes, minimize waste, and meet the diverse needs of OEMs, recyclers, and material suppliers.

Key Discussion Points:

With the growing diversity of EV battery formats and chemistries entering the recycling stream, manual sorting will become a bottleneck—leading to inefficiencies, safety risks, and contamination. Scalability and adaptability are musts to anticipate the growing but still volatile feedstock. We explore how future systems based on AI, robotics and advance factory automation could look like to overcome these challenges. We will focus on the so-called pre-treatment phase of battery recycling, which includes dis-mantling and dis-charging.

Solvent extraction is a critical step in hydrometallurgical recycling, enabling the selective recovery of valuable elements such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. Yet despite its central role, the process remains constrained by the shortened lifespan of solvent extractants. Losses, degradation, and efficiency drops not only drive up operational costs but also create bottlenecks for scaling Europe’s recycling capacity.

This presentation will examine the underlying causes of solvent losses and reduced efficiency in EV battery recycling processes—ranging from chemical instability and contamination to process integration issues—and outline potential pathways to extend solvent lifetimes.

Drawing on research within the BatCircle 3 consortium, the talk will highlight ongoing work to mitigate these challenges and improve the economic and environmental performance of hydrometallurgical recycling.

Key Discussion Points:

Major automakers are no longer relying solely on third-party recyclers—instead, they are internalizing circular economy strategies to take control of battery material flows. Companies like Volkswagen, Renault, and Stellantis are investing in in-house recycling capabilities or forming strategic partnerships to develop closed-loop systems that ensure long-term access to critical raw materials while reducing environmental impact and cost volatility.

This session highlights how leading OEMs are designing vertically integrated recycling models, embedding circularity into battery design, and working with recyclers to build dedicated recovery pathways. Attendees will gain actionable insights into how circular strategies enhance supply chain resilience, regulatory compliance, and ESG performance.

Not all EV batteries at the end of their vehicle life are ready for recycling—many retain significant capacity and can be repurposed into valuable second-life applications. From grid support and commercial storage to off-grid and residential systems, reusing batteries before recycling can dramatically enhance sustainability and ROI across the battery lifecycle. Yet despite the promise, making second-life applications economically viable—especially with true end-of-life (EoL) batteries—remains a major hurdle.

This session presents a practical framework for overcoming the technical and financial barriers to second-life battery deployment at scale. Backed by real-world data from FEV’s CycleBat lifecycle calculation tool, it introduces a novel approach that enables the economic use of EoL batteries—not just ‘second-chance’ near-new units—and demonstrates how profitability, performance, and sustainability can be aligned through better grading, diagnostics, and circular business modeling.

By shifting the conversation from theoretical value to commercially viable execution, this session outlines the path to scalable, profitable second-life ecosystems in Europe and beyond.

One of the most critical outputs—black mass—is a precursor to the recovery of valuable materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. But how it’s produced matters just as much as what it contains.

This session showcases Hydrovolt, one of Europe’s leading battery recyclers, and its approach to operational excellence and production of premium quality black mass. Now fully owned by Hydro, Hydrovolt operates one of Scandinavia’s most advanced EV battery recycling plants and is setting new benchmarks in emission reduction, material recovery rates, and circular integration.

Through this case study, attendees will learn how Hydrovolt combines renewable energy, high-efficiency mechanical processing, and strategic material partnerships to set new standards in sustainable black mass production.

As electric vehicles become integral to Europe’s decarbonization goals, building a circular and resilient battery value chain is no longer optional—it’s a strategic and regulatory necessity. This session will examine how European policy instruments—from the EU Battery Regulation to national end-of-life strategies—are reshaping industrial practices and market dynamics in battery recycling, reuse, and raw material recovery.

Framed by the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan, which seeks to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and achieve climate neutrality by 2050, the discussion will explore how legislation is enabling the transition to a truly circular battery economy.

Key discussion points will include:

Featuring perspectives from policymakers, regulatory experts, OEMs, and recyclers, this session will provide a multi-stakeholder view of how legislation can drive both environmental and economic value in Europe’s emerging battery ecosystem.

Large centralized recycling facilities often face high transport costs, regulatory delays, and logistical complexity—especially as EV battery volumes surge and chemistries diversify. Modular, decentralized recycling plants offer a flexible, scalable solution by enabling material recovery close to battery take-back, gigafactories, or OEM service hubs.

The technological design, integration, and real-world deployment of small-footprint recycling units that bring processing closer to the source. Attendees will gain insights into how modular systems lower costs, reduce emissions, and support localized closed-loop supply chains.

Maintaining profitability while meeting regulatory, safety, and sustainability requirements remains a critical challenge.

This session focuses on practical strategies for improving cost-efficiency across the value chain—from material handling and labor optimization to supply chain integration and data-driven process improvement.

As battery passports become a regulatory and operational standard, the focus on data collection has overshadowed the cyber security risks associated with storing and sharing high-value battery data. This session explores the critical intersection of digital traceability, cyber resilience, and the circular economy. Florian Ebert will highlight how data vulnerabilities in battery passports and recycling systems can lead to IP theft, data manipulation, and real-world consequences—including safety risks and reputational damage.

From battery development to second-life use and end-of-life recycling, this presentation demonstrates how cyber security must be embedded across the full product lifecycle to ensure safe, compliant, and efficient recycling operations.

As electric vehicles continue to scale globally, the industry faces a critical challenge—and opportunity—in managing end-of-life EV batteries. This session presents VoltFang’s innovative approach to repurposing decommissioned EV battery modules into safe, high-performance stationary energy storage systems. Leveraging advanced diagnostics, digital tracking, and stringent safety protocols, VoltFang delivers scalable solutions that extend battery lifespan and reduce environmental impact.

The presentation will explore how second-life systems are engineered for reliability and compliance with evolving EU Battery Regulations, including requirements for reuse, carbon footprint reporting, and design traceability. Technical insights will be shared on battery selection, module testing, system integration, and safety strategies that ensure performance in commercial and industrial environments.

By delaying recycling through intelligent reuse, VoltFang bridges the gap between vehicle end-of-life and material recovery, offering a critical pathway to true circularity in the battery value chain.

As the EV battery value chain grows more complex, ensuring transparent, tamper-proof, and real-time traceability from manufacturing through second life and end-of-life becomes mission-critical. This session explores how emerging digital technologies—namely blockchain and quantum computing—are poised to revolutionize traceability, compliance, and resource recovery across the battery recycling ecosystem.

We will dive into the role of blockchain as a decentralized ledger technology for securely tracking materials across international supply chains—capturing provenance data, recycling histories, and carbon intensity at every stage. From black mass classification to state-of-health data for reuse, blockchain enables a new level of data integrity and auditability, essential for meeting EU Battery Passport and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandates.

In parallel, quantum computing is opening new frontiers in real-time material flow optimization, process simulation, and cryptographic security for recycling infrastructures. Attendees will learn how quantum algorithms can accelerate material sorting, predictive disassembly, and complex logistics modeling, driving efficiency gains previously out of reach.