UK-based supply chain traceability provider Circulor has struck a partnership with German-Canadian cleantech company Rock Tech and Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT to build a battery-grade lithium facility in Brandenburg, Germany.

The company said the facility would have an annual capacity of 24,000 metric tonnes of lithium with what it calls the lowest possible environmental impact. Circulor will ensure traceability and dynamic CO2 tracking for the plant. 

The annual capacity of 24,000 tonnes would be enough for half a million electric vehicles.

Douglas Johnson-Poensgen, chief executive officer and founder of Circulor, said building a sustainable and resilient raw material supply chain is increasingly important to automotive customers.

"As the automotive industry prepares for the EU Battery Directive and battery passport provisions, we're very pleased to support Rock Tech in pioneering low-carbon, European-produced lithium hydroxide," Johnson-Poensgen said.

Rock Tech Lithium CEO Markus Brügmann commented that the company would create a material passport for lithium hydroxide.

"Fraunhofer UMSICHT will carry out the life cycle assessment (LCA) of Rock Tech's production processes," said Ilka Gehrke, head of the Environment and Resources department at Fraunhofer UMSICHT.

" Extensive collection and analysis of their data not only allows Rock Tech to make the production of lithium hydroxide more sustainable but also supports them in implementing subsequent process optimizations in the most energy and environmentally friendly way possible."

Currently, only 1% of lithium from batteries is recycled worldwide; Rock Tech Lithium said it aims to achieve 50% of its materials to come from recycled batteries by 2030.

In February 2021, Circulor signed an ESG-compliant collaborative partnership with manganese producer Element 25 (E25) to establish full manganese traceability standards and dynamic tracking of CO2 emissions.