Article March 2026

LIFE GRAPhiREC is an EU co-funded project working to recover and re-qualify graphite from lithium-ion battery manufacturing scraps and alkaline battery streams for use in new batteries. Bringing together industrial, research and communication partners, the project is developing practical routes for graphite recycling that can support a more circular, resilient and competitive European battery value chain. To help explain its objectives and relevance, the project has published a project video, offering a concise introduction to how GRAPhiREC is turning battery waste into a valuable secondary raw material for Europe.

In recent months, the project has continued to move both recycling routes forward. On the lithium-ion side, progress has been made on scrap supply, environmental authorisation and plant preparation, while technical work continues on purification, post-processing and material qualification. On the alkaline side, the process has been refined to better preserve graphite quality for battery re-use, with follow-up work advancing on engineering, authorisation, purification and testing.

GRAPhiREC has also strengthened its public outreach. In November 2025, the project held its first public outreach event at Ecomondo in Rimini, where partners presented the two pilot routes and discussed the wider policy and industrial context for recycled graphite in Europe. To extend these messages to a wider audience, the project has now also shared an outreach event video, highlighting key messages from these discussions and the importance of recovered graphite for Europe’s battery future.

By combining pilot development, technical validation and stakeholder engagement, LIFE GRAPhiREC is helping turn battery waste into a credible source of secondary graphite for European industry. The project’s aim is not only to demonstrate recycling routes, but also to support the wider market acceptance of quality-assured recycled graphite in Europe. Further updates, including the project video and the outreach event video, are available on the project’s LinkedIn channel.