Switzerland: CircuBAT: The project reducing Lithium-ion battery waste

In a bid to make lithium-ion batteries more sustainable and long lasting, a new research program has been launched. CircuBAT, a Swiss project of Innosuisse, led by Bern University of Applied Sciences Technology, will be joined by Green Cubes Technology, a company that makes lithium-ion batteries for data centers, which will be one of 24 commercial companies taking part. The project intends to create a circular business model for the production, application, and recycling of Lithium-ion batteries.

Green Cube's involvement in the project will see it contribute to the "First Use" group, where it will supply information and data on its deployed lithium-ion batteries. It will also be involved in the "Second Life" group, which will see research and development into second-life uses for these batteries, for example, backup energy storage. 

Commenting on the company's involvement with the project, Keith Washington, CEO of Green Cubes Technology, said: "We joined the CircuBAT research program because its mission is very well aligned with ours," said "We all want the same thing and that is a circular economy for Lithium-ion batteries. We are looking forward to sharing our experience, and giving electric mobility batteries a second life with our Swiss partners in the CircuBAT research program, as they strive to make Swiss ecomobility as sustainable as possible".

Also involved in the project are a number of different research institutions including: Empa, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), the University of St. Gallen (HSG), the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST), the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel / Bienne (SIPBB), and the EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology).