Freyr Battery and Stena Recycling partner to recycle scrap battery materials in Norway.
In connection with the opening of its battery recycling facility, Stena Recycling has signed a battery material recycling agreement with Frery Battery. The two companies have entered an agreement regarding recycling services of scrap battery material from Freyr's qualification plant in Norway. In cooperation with its strategic partner Østbø, Stena Recycling will provide a total waste management service.
"Recycling of batteries and using the recovered battery materials is one of the core strategies of Freyr," says Tove Nilsen Ljungquist, EVP of operations at Freyr Battery. "The agreement fulfills our high demands regarding finding sustainable waste handling solutions for our operations. The scope is not only to secure a responsible handling of scrap material from our production but also potentially enable the reuse of the recycled material in our own production of new batteries."
The agreement includes the option to cover Freyr's upcoming Arctic battery production facility in Norway. The battery material will be transported by railway to Stena's new battery recycling facility in southern Sweden. It is one of Europe's first industrial-scale battery recycling facilities. Stena's recycling process will enable battery material to be recovered and used to manufacture new batteries with very high recycling rates.
"With this agreement in place, we strengthen our position as one of the leading recycling partners in Europe, to both battery manufacturers and the vehicle industry. Our new plant in Sweden has an initial yearly recycling capacity of 10,000 tons, and we are prepared to scale up our battery recycling capacity as the market grows. Within ten years we expect to handle at least five to ten times higher volume than what we can handle today," says Marcus Martinsson, product area manager of batteries at Stena Recycling Group.
In addition to deliveries from Freyr, the Swedish recycling facility will handle battery material collected and pre-treated in all of Stena Recycling's existing facilities and processes in Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Finland, Norway, Germany, and Italy.
"The electrification of society has only just begun, and we want to boost a circular approach to battery production. By stimulating the reuse and recycling of lithium-ion batteries, we create the conditions to add the circular perspective," concludes Marcus Martinsson.
In 2021 Stena Recycling received SEK 70.7 million in funding from the Swedish Energy Agency for building the new facility.