The exhausted batteries are not a refusal, but a real urban mine from which to extract lithium, cobalt and other precious minerals … with the microwave!
Caramel … in the microwave
Is called Caramel And it is the project developed byUniversity of Brescia and financed by Ministry of University and Research through the announcement FISA (Italian Fund for Applied Sciences) with an investment of over one million euros. The project aims to transform the disposal of the batteries into a strategic opportunity for the recovery of precious raw materials.
The acronym is unusual and stands for New carbothermic approaches to recovery critical metals from spenta lithium-ion batteries. Caramel introduces an innovative technology based on the industrial use of microwave ovensable to extract beyond the 90% of lithium contained in exhausted batteries with reduced energy consumption of over 50% compared to traditional technologies. The “baking in the oven” process completely eliminates the use of commercial inorganic acids, thus reducing the environmental impact and the release of polluting substances.
This methodology not only improves the efficiency and sustainability of the recycling of batteries, but also has a strategic relevance for Italy and Europe. Access to critical raw materials is one of the major geopolitical challenges of our time: with the80% of global lithium and cobalt production Concentrated in a few non -European countries, the recovery of these materials from waste represents a fundamental step to reduce dependence on imports and strengthen economic safety.
Critical Raw Materials Act
Just to face this challenge, theEuropean Union introduced the Critical Raw Materials Actsetting the goal of covering at least the 25% of the continental needs through recycling by 2030. Caramel It fits perfectly into this strategy, offering a scalable and efficient technological solution for the recovery of critical materials, contributing concretely to the creation of an industrial supply chain of the recycling of batteries in Italy, still absent today.
Research
The project is the result of a solid research base, which led first to verify the feasibility and now aims at scalability. The first steps were taken in 2022when a team ofUniversity of Brescia has patented the method. In the 2023in collaboration with the National Interuniversity Consortium for material science and technology (INSTM) and the Multi -Settormal and Technological Services Center (CSMT)the Proof of Concept (Poc)or the preliminary demonstration to verify the feasibility of technology. Now, with Caramelaims to make a pilot system To bring technology to TRL 6or an industrially relevant level of technological maturity.
Osaka 2025
The project Caramel received the prestigious Intellectual Property Award and guaranteed theUniversity of Brescia participation in theOsaka Universal Exhibition 2025in an event dedicated to the excellence of Italian public research.
With the growing needs of batteries for electric vehicles and technological devices, lithium and cobalt extraction with exhausted batteries is not only an environmental choice, but a strategic necessity. This project shows that the recovery of critical materials can be an industrial reality, transforming an environmental problem into a precious resource for the future of Europe.
