Singapore plant to use fruit waste in battery recycling

A pilot recycling plant in Singapore will use a new technology to extract battery metals like cobalt, lithium, nickel and manganese from spent shredded batteries using fruit peel waste.

Singapore's Nanyang Technology University (NTU) and battery recycling firm Se-cure Waste Management (SWM) partnered to introduce the technology for lithium-ion battery recycling. Battery waste will be mixed with fruit peel waste to extract electrode materials like cobalt, lithium, nickel and manganese, the organisations said on 28 March.

The pilot plant has been operational since the fourth quarter of last year, can process up to 2,000 litres of spent shredded batteries and has a modular design for potential extraction of other types of metals. NTU and SWM will try to improve processes for maximum extraction yield at a pre-commercial scale this year, while they evaluate the feasibility of commercialising the technology.

NTU's Singapore-CEA Alliance for Research in Circular Economy (Scarce), which invented the technology, extracted around 90pc of cobalt, lithium, nickel, and manganese with the recycling approach in a lab experiment in 2020. The efficacy is comparable with the hydrogen peroxide approach, which generates substantial secondary pollutants.

Scarce is also looking into usage of biomass waste and has been exploring recycling of silicon solar panels, printed circuit boards and e-waste.

The volume of spent lithium-ion batteries is projected to reach 11mn t globally by 2030, but less than 5pc of spent lithium-ion batteries are recycled globally, according to SWM and NTU.

Singapore has set a recycling target of 70pc and aims to reduce waste-to-landfill per capita per day by 30pc by 2030 under its zero waste masterplan.

Singapore-based electronic waste recycler last year TES signed an agreement with Volvo for electronic scrap and electric vehicle battery waste management. TES has a recycling plant in Singapore that can process up to 14 t/d of lithium-ion batteries and extract 90pc of usable battery material.

By Joseph Ho