Page 10 from: Recycling International January/February issue 2023
10
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Making the most of the
e-car afterlife
The electric vehicle (EV) aftermarket – covering reuse, repair and remanufacturing
– could be worth EUR 4.8 billion by 2030 in Europe alone. Christoph Schön of
Swiss firm LKQ Corp expects rapid growth beyond that with replacement parts
having the biggest market share, mostly thanks to remanufacturing.
LKQ expects there to be between 30
and 40 million EVs on the road in
Europe by 2030 with 4.2 million fully
electric and another 12 million plug-in
hybrid vehicles past the warranty peri-
od (typically eight years) by that time.
‘We are turning to remanufacturing to
boost the amount of car parts that are
eligible for reuse in a new vehicle pro-
duction,’ Schön tells delegates at the
latest International Congress for
Battery Recycling (ICBR) in Salzburg.
‘This may even include battery cells as
the faulty cells are detected and taken
out.’
WHEN THE SPARK FADES
The leader in salvaged and recycled
OEM automotive parts observes that,
after ten years in use, the capacity of
a car battery decreases to roughly
68%. ‘Reuse in the same application is
not favourable,’ Schön says. Instead,
the EV battery is rerouted to second-
ary applications like energy storage or
sent a recycler to create a new gener-
ation of batteries.
‘Based on our experience, we see
around two thirds (64%) of batteries
fail after 10 to 14 years,’ he reports.
Causes of capacity fade include loss of
lithium inventory, an increase in inter-
nal resistance and loss of active elec-
trode material. A root cause may be
mechanical stress or chemical/electro-
lyte decomposition.
‘The weakest cell causing the problem
determines how much and how fast
you can still charge the battery,’
Schön explains. ‘So the battery pack
will read as entirely faulty, which is
almost never the case.’
He points out the aftermarket for
automotive spare parts is seeing con-
sistent growth, which is not surprising
because modern disassembly and
testing technology allow for top-tier
remanufacturing that is both safe and
efficient. Reviving parts can reduce
emissions of the car-making process
by over 80% while cutting costs by
more than half.
‘Our team focusses on fully electric
vehicle batteries, which have a higher
value and have become more stan-
dardised,’ Schön adds. ‘The industry
has had decades to improve the tradi-
tional combustion engine. Just imag-
ine what’s possible if we apply the
same time and effort to this exciting
new growth market. I’m talking about
carmakers, repair specialists and recy-
clers – all of us.’
A BILLION REASONS
LKQ cites its collaboration with Volvo
as a ‘proof of concept’ for commercial
EV battery remanufacturing. The part-
nership involved the carmaker’s V60
model battery. Results are seen as
‘very positive’ and could be a step-
ping stone towards remanufacturing
other Volvo car batteries as well as
those of other leading brands.
Setting up a European remanufactur-
ing and repair hub would also ensure
a ‘bundled’ volume of parts and com-
ponents, Schön says. It would make
the car industry more resistant to vola-
tile market conditions such as parts
scarcity and soaring materials and
energy prices.
‘I expect a steep learning curve for
any player in the EV battery repair
sector and bundling our strengths is
the way forward,’ he declares. ‘That’s
why it’s so important to keep each
other up to date on new develop-
ments and to connect at industry
events. Together, we can pool our
expertise to create a new standard for
sustainability in Europe.
‘These are exciting times,’ Schön con-
cludes. ‘Design is changing, available
technologies to dismantle and test car
parts are changing and consumer and
brand positions on the importance of
sustainability are changing. There are
many drivers for growth and, you
could say, a few billion reasons to be
optimistic.’
A U T H O R Kirstin Linnenkoper
KAZAKHSTAN RESEARCHERS SET OUT RECIPE FOR
‘EASILY RECYCLABLE’ PCBS
A group of
researchers from
Kazakhstan
reports using
biodegradable
polymers in
printed circuit
boards (PCBs)
could advance
e-scrap recycling.
‘The use of biode-
gradable and easi-
ly recyclable poly-
mers as binders
for PCB manufac-
turing opens new perspectives for both environmental protection and
resource conservation and aims to maximise the recovery of valuable mate-
rials like gold and for reuse,’ says project lead Arman Tirzhanov of the
Karaganda Economic University of Kazpotrebsouz.
He estimates that a typical tonne of used PCBs contains 130 kg of copper,
1.38 kg of silver, 0.35 kg of gold and 0.21 kg of palladium. Precious metals
can account for more than 80% of the product’s value.
After conducting tests on a series of PCBs created at the university’s labora-
tory, tetrahydrofuran appeared to be the most efficient solvent for PCB dis-
posal. The chemical is not classified as a hazardous solvent, has no known
carcinogenic effect and is not prohibited within the pharmaceutical industry
for the manufacture of medical devices.
Tirzhanov points out that tetrahydrofuran can be easily distilled from poly-
lactic acid (PLA) and reused. For sample recycling, the PLA-PCB was placed
in a container of tetrahydrofuran and placed in an ultrasonic bath. This
method allowed complete separation of the binder, copper tracks with elec-
tronic components and filler (fibreglass), without needing additional manual,
mechanical or thermal processes.
‘The process of the electronic device recycling was completed in 30 min-
utes,’ Tirzhanov concludes. The PLA solution in tetrahydrofuran was evapo-
rated to dryness in a vacuum in a rotary evaporator and a water bath tem-
perature of 40 °C, resulting in 98% of the chemical being recovered.
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