Reuse – the fourth pillar of the circular economy

Two of the Foundation’s Strategic Partners, Groupe Renault and Solvay, have joined forces to create a circular economy for electric vehicle batteries. They have created a consortium with Foundation Partner Veolia to collaborate across the battery value chain — collecting end-of-life batteries, then recovering and purifying the metals to be reused in new batteries. The circular economy represents systemic change and requires collaboration between all actors — in order to achieve this, the Foundation’s Network brings organisations together to mobilise systems solutions at scale. Each organisation has a key role to play in the collaboration — Renault brings its experience in extending the life-cycle of EV batteries, through repair and recycling schemes, and Solvay brings its expertise in the chemical extraction of battery metals.