700221Recovery of Nickel from End-of-Life Secondary BatteriesClosedGRD Proof of MarketInnovate UKThe project is a Proof of Market study for a generic new process technology for the recycling of Nickel metal from end-of-life secondary (rechargeable) batteries. Nickel is a high value metal of key strategic industrial importance. In the waste sources being targeted, it is present as Ni salts in a mixture with other metals and materials from which it must be separated to recover high purity, valuable Ni metal or Ni metal salts. The primary target is to recover the metal from used Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries. Cobalt and lanthanides (rare earths) are further critical strategic metals to be recovered from this source. Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries are an additional source of waste Ni, where its complete separation from toxic Cd is essential. The proposed process is novel and no similar processes have been implemented industrially for this application. The study will provide key supply chain and economic data and will enable quantification of commercial and environmental advantages over existing techniques, in terms of greater extraction selectivity and therefore higher value recovered products, lower energy consumption and cleaner processing using less environmentally harmful chemicals and requiring less transport (localised operation), leading to reductions in effluents and harmful emissions. The study will assess the commercial viability of the process within the supply chains for endof- life battery collection and Ni recycling, aiming to quantify perceived market opportunities and identify further potential applications within battery recycling. The project outputs will establish a basis for further market development, IP protection and routes to process commercialisation.