The Leonese town of Cubillos del Sil will house the first recycling plant of these characteristics in the Iberian Peninsula, a facility promoted by Urbaser and Endesa. The start of its activity is expected in 2023.
One of the weak points of the electric vehicle in terms of sustainability is the treatment of the batteries, which because they incorporate highly polluting elements must be recycled to minimize the impact of a technology that has been indicated as the future of sustainable mobility. .
At the moment, Spain does not have a specific recycling plant for the treatment of electric vehicle batteries, but this will change in a few months, as Endesa and Urbaser have announced the start of the project to create one in the town leonesa from Cubillos del Sil. Its opening is scheduled for 2023, although the battery storage process will start in advance, and it is expected to recycle 8,000 tons of electric batteries per year, from Spain and Portugal.
Storage, recycling and reuse
The facility, which has a budget of 13 million euros, is part of the Futur-E Plan of Endesa associated with the dismantling of the thermal power plant in the same town in León. The new recycling plant should provide employment for 50 people.
“The circular component of this alliance resides in its own activity: reuse and recovery,” the statement said. «In the new facilities of Cubillos del Sil, batteries that support this operation will be adapted for reuse. The remainder will be electrically discharged, disassembled and subjected to a separation and crushing process that will allow the recycling of the materials present, such as plastics, aluminum and copper, as well as the ‘black-mass’, which constitutes the fraction rich in strategic metals, of great value in Europe, such as cobalt and nickel, both essential for the manufacture of new batteries.
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«This project, plus the other six others approved for El Bierzo, have been selected to revitalize said region through a program that provides for the occupation of the site of the old thermal power plant, as well as the use of equipment that was used in the installation ”, reports Endesa. “These initiatives add around 160 new jobs and an investment that exceeds 260 million euros.”
The selection of business projects has been carried out through an international competition aimed at mitigating the end of the thermal generation activity, in compliance with the objectives set by Brussels.
«Endesa adds to this process, among other actions, the development of 625 renewable megawatts in the area, the organization of professional training courses, as well as the prioritization of local labor in the dismantling of the old thermal power plant.
Battery recycling, pending issue
Currently, an electric vehicle battery has a shelf life of approximately 10 years, so it is necessary to have a recycling plan to match the great demand that the automotive sector anticipates for the coming years as a result of environmental policies promoted by governments and administrations (not in vain, the price lithium has exploded as a result of this need).
However, there are still few facilities dedicated to this task and recycling technology also has a long way to go to be considered a challenge overcome by the electric car. Currently, techniques such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy and disassembly They allow a considerable amount of the components to be recovered, but there is still room for improvement in this regard.
Do you want to know more about how the electric car really helps the environment? Do not miss this article, in which we also give you more information about the recycling processes of your batteries.