If we stick to the arguments of language, “This illustrates the government’s determination to master the energy transition value chains.”, according to Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the minister at the heart of the file with her colleague in Industry, Roland Lescure. But beyond the words, the real innovation compared to the file of the electric battery in general is doubly strategic.
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First, the promotion of the circular economy, of proximity, therefore with a limited environmental footprint. But above all, main point, the direct recycling of so-called critical metals, also called precious metals, such as tungsten or cobalt which are lacking in the manufacture of semiconductors.
Innovative projects
First there is the construction of a battery recycling unit with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year starting this year, followed by the deployment of a second unit three times larger by 2028. This project is carried by Renault with Veolia (specialized in the treatment of water and waste), attached to the Belgian chemist Solvay.
The other file is carried by the Lyon-based recycling company Mecaware with the Grenoble-based battery manufacturer Verkor. In this case, it is a question of building an industrial unit for the recycling of battery production scrap and the reuse of metals.
Where does the money come from?
The 30 million euros deployed by the State are taken from the France 2030 investment plan which is endowed with 30 billion euros, of which 950 million are precisely devoted to projects for the production and recycling of these so-called critical materials.
Such projects are regularly supported by this dedicated investment fund. A first envelope of 100 million euros was for example allocated to Imerys specialized in the extraction of lithium (Allier), Viridian (Bas-Rhin). Recently, the French mining group Eramet announced the conclusion of an agreement with an EDF subsidiary in Strasbourg to develop lithium from a geothermal source of 10,000 tonnes per year from 2030. Local production capacity: 250,000 batteries per year. The list of projects and concrete achievements is growing, helped because they are, neither more nor less, public-private partnerships.