Stellantis partners with Orano to recycle EV batteries and cell production scrap

The euro-american car maker Stellantis has signed an memorandum of understanding with the French recycling company Orano to form a joint venture which will recycle end-of-life batteries and scrap from battery factories in Europe and North America. The company will utilise Orano’s solutions for both both pre-processing and material recovery, enabling the joint venture to produce new cathode materials from the scrap.

Orano has a strong position in recycling of nuclear waste. Since 2018 the company has been developing technology for battery recycling and is planning to set up a hydrometallurgical plant in Dunkirk, France. The company is also forming two joint ventures with the Chinese cathode manufacturer XTC to produce precursors and cathode materials.

Stellantis, with strong positions not least in Southern Europe through its brands Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen and Opel as well as in the US with Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler is one of the largest shareholders in ACC, the battery company it started with Mercedes-Benz. ACC recently inaugurated its first plant in Douvrin, close to Orano’s future recycling site in Dunkirk. In North America Stellantis has formed battery manufacturing joint ventures with Samsung and LG Energy Solutions. In total three plants are announced in Canada and the US.

According to Stellantis the new commercial recycling entity will provide Stellantis’ partners, its after-sales network, and also other OEMs with a solution to manage end-of-life batteries and scrap from battery factories. Production will begin in the first part of 2026, reusing existing Stellantis assets and facilities. The joint venture is subject to agreement on definitive documentation.

In April 2023 Stellantis signed an MOU with Chinese battery recycler concerning cooperation in battery recycling in both China and overseas. It’s not clear whether this agreement is connected to this joint venture.

ACC the battery company co-owned by Stellantis has an agreement with Umicore for recycling of production waste from the battery company’s pilot factory in Nersac, France.

Comment

While longterm agreements between recycling companies and car makers are announced on a weekly basis joint ventures is something that has been more common upstream between OEMs and battery producers or between battery producers and cathode material producers. Renault works closely with Veolia and is also a the largest shareholders in the large car dismantler Sindra. Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have invested in their own pre-processing plants and so is Tesla in their Reno and Austin plants. The closest to Stellantis and Orano’s partnership we have identified is Geely’s joint venture with BASF Shanshan and Zijin Mining, Evergreen New Energy which both recycles batteries and produce active materials.

There are reasons for more close partnerships though. That joint ventures are formed means that both parties expect to win something from the agreement but are also prepared to limit their upside. From the OEMs perspective it’s both about solving their producer responsibility in the best possible way but also to secure battery materials. This will not least will be in important in Europe with requirements of recycled content coming into force by the end of the decade, but has importance also in the US as long as tax credits for EVs remain as material recycled in the US is counts towards the requirement of US-produced material. For the recyclers it’s about securing feedstock. Here the OEMs and battery producers are convenient early sources of materials although the largest feedstock is expected to be significantly more distributed. However with joint ventures like this both the recycler and OEM can jointly design models which make them more attractive buyers of the batteries in the market.