Helping businesses to meet the carbon footprint challenge

AUDITEL

Location: Lutterworth, Leicestershire

Spokesperson:

University joins charge to recycle EV batteries

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is part of a £4.5m research project to establish a process for recycling or reusing electric vehicle (EV) batteries – which would help prevent up to nine million tonnes of battery waste per year going to landfill.

A £582,000 grant has been awarded to the university’s Advanced Design and Manufacturing Engineering Centre (ADMEC) as part of the European-wide REBELION project, which looks to give used electric vehicle Lithium-ion batteries a “second life” or recycle them in a more efficient way.

Research shows that with reconditioning, the majority of electric vehicle batteries would be able to last another 10 years after their capacity has fallen below 75%. But the majority are sent to landfill and many of the first-generation EVs will soon reach their end of life.

The project – which is supported by the European Horizon programme and incorporates 11 organisations from across Europe – will also establish how recycling EV batteries could create a major source of lithium-ion on the continent. Professor Daizhong Su (pictured), head of ADMEC, which sits in NTU’s School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, said: “With the increased volume of electric vehicle batteries coming towards their end of life, it’s imperative there’s a quick and accurate way to predict a battery’s future life in order to maximise second-life applications.

“Recycling is the most environmentallyfriendly way to deal with batteries after their second life and has the potential to turn them into a major economic resource in Europe, with a value of up to £23bn per year, as the raw materials they contain can be used for further manufacturing.”

The NTU team will develop the ICT platform and infrastructure. The team will also develop methods in relation to traceability of batteries, digital battery passports, ecolabelling and the calculation of eco-cost and eco-savings. It will also contribute to repurposing second life batteries in lighting products.

What does your company do and how does your business model embrace the sustainability agenda?

I am an independent consultant based in Leicestershire working as part of the larger Auditel affiliate group of consultants based throughout the UK.

We work with customers to understand their requirements and produce a high-quality carbon footprint reduction plan, and work to get the customer to a BSI and NQA-verified standard.

This level of work allays fears of any accusation of greenwashing and gives solid grounding on which to build towards net zero.

How does this work?

In the current challenging economic climate, organisations are battling with the desire to drive growth and profitability, while investing in low carbon-emitting technologies to reduce their carbon footprint and speed up their journey to achieving net zero.

We can help demystify and provide clarity to this complex subject of achieving net zero. We deliver expert guidance and resources to calculate an organisation’s carbon inventory, create a carbon footprint report and develop their carbon reduction strategy.

All our solutions are designed to allow future verification for PAS2060, accreditation for ISO14064-1 and meet the requirements of PPN06/21.

We help our clients on their journey towards net zero by simplifying the process. We begin with a couple of easy steps, which could lead them to be verified as carbon-neutral to an internationally-recognised standard within 12 months.

What prompted the decision to embrace the sustainability agenda and how has it impacted your business?

Auditel has been advising on procurements and cost savings for more than 28 years. Over a decade ago, the emphasis of scope three emissions in the carbon footprint, and the evolving climate emergency, led us to develop our carbon practice in order to combine supply chain and operation carbon management.

This combination gives us the unique opportunity to not only reduce customers’ carbon footprint, but to also find cost savings so the whole project becomes self-funding.

How important do you believe embracing the sustainability agenda is for businesses today?

Apart from the fact that many people and businesses want to do the right thing, the pressure on carbon awareness and reduction is growing – from attracting staff and customers, through to meeting supplier and tender requirements.

However, there is still time for companies to gain an advantage by being ahead of the crowd in addressing these issues.

What are your future plans for making your business more sustainable?

We are continuing to work with customers towards achieving a verified carbon-neutral status. We are also growing innovative partnerships to help customers reduce organisational carbon and, looking to the future, at the evolving demands of whole-life carbon and environmental product declarations.