An agreement between Honda and SNAM helps recover batteries from hybrid vehicles

One of the major concerns about electric and hybrid cars is their price. The battery is one of the most expensive components and, after its use, requires a more complex disposal process. The final destination of batteries is a complicated matter that requires considerable study. The cost of destroying a battery from a hybrid or electric car is also complex. That is why the new agreement between Honda and SNAM offers hope of giving these batteries a new life.

SNAM (Société Nouvelle d’Affinage des Métaux) is a French company that specialises in recycling various materials, and it will be responsible for the treatment of hybrid car batteries from Honda. Once the agreement is signed, SNAM will be in charge of preparing the batteries for later reuse elsewhere.

Both companies have been working together since 2013, although this agreement has served to expand this service. From now on, the French company will be responsible for collecting lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries from Honda dealerships across Europe, as well as sending them to Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATF) in all European countries.

This agreement is important because batteries are highly polluting and must go through a very complex process to be dismantled so that all of their components can be recovered. In fact, one of the things that slows the rise of electrified cars is uncertainty about what will happen to the batteries that power them once their useful life has ended.

Many of these batteries can be reused to store electrical energy in other types of installations. If they cannot be used for that purpose, the company can dismantle them in an orderly, efficient and safe manner. This would allow the various components to be extracted and recycled correctly. Those elements can then be used again in new batteries and facilitate the manufacture of new equipment.

Transport, selection and reuse

The battery recycling company aims to use low-emission transport to make the entire process as clean as possible. Once the batteries reach the company’s facility, they are inspected to check whether they can be used for other purposes.

If the storage cells are badly damaged, they move on to the recycling stage, where cobalt and lithium are extracted. This process requires a hydrometallurgical method that applies several chemical processes. Other products obtained through these recycling operations are used in the manufacture of new batteries, but also in other industries such as construction, the automotive sector and others.

In this way, batteries that have already reached the end of their useful life in an electric or hybrid vehicle can be used for many other purposes. The pollution caused by discarded batteries is thereby reduced, and recycling companies such as SNAM are responsible for eliminating or reusing many of those polluting elements.