2nd Conference on Battery Direct Recycling 2026

Direct recycling has the potential to play a key role in battery recycling in the future. As a complementary method to the more established recycling routes, direct recycling can contribute to the improved sustainability of the battery value chain and to enable the formation of a circular economy.

The first "Conference on Battery Direct Recycling" took place at the Congress Centrum CCW in Würzburg from 29 to 30 October 2024. More than 150 participants from research and industry travelled to Lower Franconia to exchange ideas on the direct recycling of batteries and thus contributed to the start of a direct recycling battery community.

Conference Topics 2026

Direct Recycling: Methods and processes

Design for Circularity

Design for Recycling

Sustainability and Digitalization

Policy and Market

Invited Speakers 2026

Patrik Johansson

BATTERY 2030+, Uppsala University, Department of Chemistry - Ångström, SWEDEN (succeeding Kristina Edström as Director of the Battery 2030+ Initiative)

Sascha Nowak

University of Muenster, MEET Battery Research Center, Germany

Rob Sommerville

School of Metallurgy & Materials, University of Birmingham, UK

Carmen Cavallo

FAAM, Italy

Eva Allen

Argonne National Laboratory, USA

Eliana Quartarone

Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, Italy

Justo Garcia

Orano, France

Moritz Poremba

BMW AG, Germany

Sebastian Will

VDI-VDE, Germany

Maximilian Stephan

Fraunhofer ISI, Germany

Claudia Stauch

Fraunhofer ISC, Germany

Emma Kendrick

University of Birmingham, UK

Max Rettenmeier

Trumpf SE + Co. KG, Germany

David Flaschenträger

Kyburz Switzerland AG

Andreas Flegler

Fraunhofer ISC, Germany

Preliminary Program

Here you find an overview of the presentation topics. A detailed schedule will follow shortly!

Day 1 / February 3, 2026
Registration 10:00 CET, Start 12:00 CET

Session 1: POLICY

Sustainable Batteries: Advancing Circular Economy Strategies in a European Battery Value Chain (Maximilian Stephan, Fraunhofer ISI)

Strategic Pathways for Circular Battery Supply Chains (Markus Gerschberger, Supply Chain Intelligence Institute Austria (ASCII) and University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria)

Session 2: PROCESSES

Development of sustainable direct recycling and upcycling technologies for Li-ion battery cathodes (George P. Demopoulos, McGill University)

Innovative Direct Reshaping and Reconditioning of NMC Cathode Active Material from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries (Max Larry, University of Liege)

Direct Recycling of NMC Scraps: Impact of Fluorine Release During Calcination Revealed by Advanced Multi-Scale Characterization (Margaux Lebvre, IEF France)

Session 3: PROCESSES

Shredding & Sorting for Better Black Mass: Morphology Matters in Direct Recycling (Rob Sommerville, University of Birmingham)

Recycled Type Lithium Ion Battery with Cathode Prepared from Black Mass by Direct Synthesis Procedure (Ryohei Mori, Green Science Alliance)

From Waste to Resource: Environmentally Viable Direct Recycling of Li-ion Battery Production Scraps Assisted by Pressurized Fluids (Gilles Philippot, University of Bordeaux)

Accelerating Direct Recycling of Lithium-Ion Batteries with Predictive Microstructure Simulation (Timotheus Jahnke, Viridis)

Wet and dry sustainable direct regeneration of spent LFP (Moulay-Tahar Sougrati, CNRS-ICGM)

An efficient molten salts-based process for the direct recycling of LFP from End-of-Life cells and manufacturing scraps (Lorenzo de Vita, University of Pavia)

Fast and Low-Energy Relithiation of Spent Lithium Iron Phosphate Cathode Active Material (Jeroen Spooren, Vito)

Poster session

Day 2 / February 4, 2026
Start 8:00 CET

Session 4: EU INITIATIVES

Direct recycling or creation of new data (Patrick Johansson, BATTERY 2030+ Initiative)

Direct recycling of Li-ion batteries: challenges, prospects and main insights from the RENOVATE project (Eliana Quartanone, University of Pavia)

ReUse – Efficient direct recycling for low-value LFP battery for circular and sustainable waste management (Claudia Stauch, Fraunhofer ISC)

Project Revitalize (Emma Kendrik, University of Birmingham)

Project Respect (Justo Garcia, Orano)

ReMade@ARI: a pioneering project for characterization of materials in the Circular Economy (Marta Mirolo, ESRF)

Session 5: PROCESSES

New Insights for the Direct Recycling ol LIBs Materials (Sascha Nowak, University of Münster)

Insights into the Mechanisms Behind Structural Repair of Spent NCM Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries (Shuaiwei Liu, KIT)

Session 6: SUSTAINABILITY

Techno-Economic Analysis of Black Mass Recovery: Towards Direct Recycling Applications (Lisa Schlott, University of Münster)

Integrating circularity into Life Cycle Assessment: Metrics to measure the sustainability of battery direct recycling (Guido Sonnemann, University of Bordeaux)

Session 7: PROCESSES

Laser applications in battery recycling (Max Rettenmeier, Trumpf)

The Impact of Discharge method for Preserving the Battery electrode integrity (Neha Garg, Aalto)

Investigation and characterization of the de-stacking process for electrode and separator materials in the context of automated battery cell disassembly (Sebastian Henschel, KIT)

In-depth study of blackmass flotation to improve selectivity (Mathilde Perrin, Uni Grenoble Alpes)

Day 3 / February 5, 2026
Start 8:00 CET, End 16:30 CET, Optional Labtour 16:45-17:45 CET

Session 8: PROCESSES

Industrial Pathways for LFP and Graphite Recovery: FAAM’s Approach to Scalable Battery Recycling (Carmen Cavallo, FAAM)

Many Roads Lead to Delamination: Pathways for Direct Recycling of LFP Production Scraps (Hannes Bauer, Fraunhofer ISC)

Efficient, Selective Leaching of Battery Cathodes at Room Temperature (Joel Cornelio, University of Birmingham)

Direct recycling of spent anode: Challenge on graphite separation and regeneration (Cedric Espinet, IGCM University of Montpellier)

Session 9: DESIGN FOR RECYCLING AND OTHER STRATEGIES

Particle-based magnetic additives as information providers in lithium-ion cells (Jakob Endres, Fraunhofer ISC)

Microstructural Design of Hybrid Cathodes with Directly Recycled Material (Melissa Popeil, NREL/Colorado School of Mines)

Is it really worthwhile recovering the electrolyte from end-of-life lithium ion batteries? (Camilla Zanoni, University of Pavia)

Session 10: PROCESSES

Direct recycling of next generation lithium battery materials (Stiven Lopez Guzman, CICenergiGUNE)

Direct Recycling approaches for Ionic liquid electrolyte based Lithium-ion Batteries (Aravindda Swamy, Avesta)

Direct recycling of Li metal ? trials, errors and feasibility (Nanna Bjerre-Christensen, Avesta)

Direct recycling of anode and cathode materials from End-of-life Sodium-Ion Batteries (Bowen Liu, University of Birmingham)

Conference fees and registration

Students' and authors' reduced fee: 249 €

Early-bird rate: 499 €

(Registration until October 30, 2025)