European-American carmaker Stellantis NV and Orano have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a joint venture focused on recycling end-of-life electric vehicle batteries and scrap from gigafactories in enlarged Europe and North America, Stellantis announced October 24.
The collaboration with Orano is aimed at strengthening Stellantis’ position in the EV battery value chain by securing additional access to cobalt, nickel and lithium necessary for electrification and energy transition.
The JV aims to capitalize on Orano’s innovative, low-carbon technology, which breaks with existing processes, allowing the recovery of all materials from lithium-ion batteries, and the manufacturing of new cathode materials. The JV plans to produce materials also known as black mass, which can be refined in Orano’s hydrometallurgical plant to be built in Dunkirk, France. These refined materials can be reused in batteries, thus closing the loop of a circular economy, it said.
Stellantis said that as part of its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, its Circular Economy business unit is pushing to increase recycling revenues by tenfold and achieve more than €2 billion in total circular economy revenues by 2030. Stellantis said that it is on track to become a carbon net-zero corporation by 2038, all scopes included, with single-digit percentage compensation of remaining emissions.
Commenting on the new alliance, Stellantis Senior Vice President of Circular Economy Business Unit Alison Jones said, “The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals has confirmed the need to find solutions like this one with Orano to meet the challenge of natural resource scarcity and sustainability. Guided by our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis is committed to shifting its production and consumption model by fulfilling its circular economy commitment.”
Adding to that, Orano Group Director of Innovation, R&D and Nuclear Medicine, Magnets and Batteries Guillaume Dureau said, “We are delighted with this partnership with a major player such as Stellantis to work together in the recycling of used electric batteries. We are proud to bring our expertise and know-how with our innovative and disruptive process which allows a real closed loop. Orano continues its commitment to developing a low-carbon economy with the recycling of strategic materials for the energy transition and the circular economy.”
While production at the new JV is slated to begin in the first part of 2026, reusing existing Stellantis assets and facilities, Stellantis said that the new commercial recycling entity will also provide its partners, after-sales network and other original equipment manufacturers with a solution to manage end-of-life batteries and scrap from gigafactories.
