The CROCODILE project will showcase innovative metallurgical systems based on advanced pyro-, hydro-, bio-, iono- and electrometallurgy technologies for the recovery of cobalt and the production of cobalt metal and upstream products from a wide variety of secondary and primary European resources. CROCODILE will demonstrate the synergetic approaches and the integration of the innovative metallurgical systems within existing recovery processes of cobalt from primary and secondary sources at different locations in Europe, to enhance their efficiency, improve their economic and environmental values, and will provide a zero-waste strategy for important waste streams rich in cobalt such as batteries. Additionally, CROCODILE will produce a first of a kind economically and environmentally viable mobile commercial metallurgical system based on advanced hydrometallurgical and electrochemical technologies able to produce cobalt metal from black mass containing cobalt from different sources of waste streams such as spent batteries and catalysts. The new established value chain in this project will bring together for the first time major players who have the potential of supplying 10,000 ton of cobalt annually in the mid-term range from European resources, corresponding to about 65% of the current overall EU industrial demand. Therefore, the project will reduce drastically the very high supply risk of cobalt for Europe, provide SMEs with novel business opportunities, and consolidate the business of large refineries with economically and environmentally friendly technologies and decouple their business from currently unstable supply of feedstocks.

RESTORE represents a pioneering research and development initiative, committed to the challenge of designing, developing and deploying a novel holistic and scalable battery recycling process. RESTORE is dedicated to the safe pre-processing of End-of-life (EoL) battery from Electric vehicles (EV) and domestic Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs), and aims at developing innovative, safe, cost effective and scalable solution for the separation, recovery, purification, upcycling, and validation of materials and metals, to be directly transformed into new battery precursor and functional materials. The proposed solution will shorten the recycling process, while unlocking the recovery of highly valuable materials, currently lost in conventional recycling process, such as the electrolyte, including both the electrolyte salt and solvents, organic binder, graphite and Cathode Active Material (CAM). The project is driven by key industries in Europe, supported by renown research centres, to ensure battery recycling industry will be able to reach the battery directive, and 2030 Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) targets. The concept is based on three building blocks: i) Improving upstream processes for the sorting of batteries and the liberation of non-battery materials from EV battery packs and prohibit them from entering in the downstream process, while maximizing their valorisation, ii) Improving pre-processing of battery materials to effectively separate active and non-active battery materials, ensuring high-purity outputs. iii) Improving the downstream process to efficiently separate all battery materials and refine them to battery-grade standards, to be directly reinjected into the battery production value chain. Finally, with the support of LCA and LCCA through SSbD assessment, the most promising routes based on recycled materials will be validated on coin cells. The project's outcomes will be effectively communicated, disseminated, and exploited with stakeholders engagement.

The DATA4CIRC project aims to enhance circularity within the manufacturing sector to facilitate decarbonisation whilst improving competitiveness and boosting the adoption of R-strategies. These objectives will be achieved by providing the sector with the proposed DATA4CIRC solution, a human-centred collaborative digital framework that leverages the power of data and cutting-edge digital technologies for assets digitalisation. This framework will comprise (A) Federated Data Spaces, (B) Digital Models of the circular value chains and products; (C) Digital Product Passport (DPP); and (D) an AI-assisted end-to-end LCA tool. The integration of these tools into a single framework will improve data interoperability and accessibility, therefore boosting the collaboration and the establishment of circular value chains. To do so, (E) ontologies and semantic models will be leveraged and proper user-friendly interfaces will be developed. Furthermore, the DATA4CIRC solutions will be based on existing standards and architectures to maximise their adoption and impact. Special focus will be placed on social aspects for the transition to circular business models which prioritise the needs, expectations and experiences of end-users. By embracing the social innovation paradigm, human involvement throughout the project is boosted through co-creation and co-validation activities. Moreover, an upskilling and reskilling training programme will be designed and conducted to facilitate the uptake of digital tools in the manufacturing workforce during the project and beyond its completion. Validation and demonstration of the DATA4CIRC solution will be achieved via three use cases, thereby consolidating successful progress from TRL4 to TRL6. The selected use cases are circular value chains in manufacturing sectors with high impact potential and significant room for improvement regarding the field of circular economy: the electronics, plastics, and automotive sectors.

The key objective of the MEMBER project is the scale-up and manufacturing of advanced materials (membranes and Sorbents) and their demonstration at TRL6 in novel membrane based technologies that outperform current technology for pre- and post-combustion CO2 capture in power plants as well as H2 generation with integrated CO2 capture. Two different strategies will be followed and demonstrated at three different end users facilities to achieve CO2 separation: - A combination of Mixed Matrix Membranes (MMM) for pre- and post-combustion, - A combination of metallic membranes and sorbents into an advanced Membrane Assisted Sorption Enhanced Reforming (MA-SER) process for pure H2 production with integrated CO2 capture In both cases, a significant decrease of the total cost of CO2 capture will be achieved. MEMBER targets CO2 capture technologies that separate >90% CO2 at a cost below 40€/ton for post combustion and below 30€/ton for pre-combustion and H2 production. To achieve this objective, MEMBER has been built on the basis of the best materials and technologies developed in three former FP7 projects, ASCENT, M4CO2 and FluidCELL. In particular, special attention will be paid to the manufacturing processes scale up of key materials and products such as Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs), polymers, membranes and sorbents. At the end of the project we will deliver a robust demonstration of the new materials at real conditions (TRL 6) by designing, building, operating and validating three prototype systems tested at industrial relevant conditions: - Prototype A targeted for pre-combustion in a gasification power plant using MMM at the facilities of CENER (BIO-CCS). - Prototype B targeted for post-combustion in power plants using MMM at the facilities of GALP. - Prototype C targeted for pure hydrogen production with integrated CO2 capture using (MA-SER) at the facilities of IFE-HyNor

Rhinoceros will develop, improve and demonstrate, in an industrially relevant environment, an economically and environmentally viable route for re-using, re-purposing, re-conditioning and recycling of EoL EV and stationary batteries. Rhinoceros will first develop a smart sorting and dismantling system enabling the automated classification and dismantling of LIBs and the reassembly of still working modules in new repurposed batteries for second life applications such as batteries for energy storage systems. When direct reuse and repurpose of batteries is not possible, a circular recycling route of all the materials present in LIBs (e.g., metals, graphite, fluorinated compounds and polymers, active materials) will be followed to close the materials loop. This route is based on a set of cost efficient, flexible and environmentally friendly routes targeting the pre-treatment, refining and the recovery of materials. Through product qualification by industrial end-users, Rhinoceros will demonstrate the direct production of high performances cathodic and anodic materials and other raw materials at competitive costs from battery recycling. The achievements will bring Europe to an increased independence level from foreigner manufacturers and raw materials suppliers.