The PROACTIVE project was running from 2020–2022. The aim of the project has been to set up an efficient and safe process of electric vehicle battery handling including packaging, storage, tools and health and safety aspects related to that work. The project focused on the island Nordic countries: Iceland, The Faroe Islands and Greenland. The project has developed a set of guidelines for safety handling of end-of-life Li-ion batteries.
“The Nordic islands were choosen to show that if it is possible to set up a system for handling of electric vehicle batteries at these locations, it would be possible to do the same in any other country and region,” says Karolina Kazmierczak, Project Manager at Chalmers Industriteknik, one of the project partners.
The project has developed clear guidelines on how to safely handle electric vehicle batteries. It has also mapped out the current processes related to handling of electric vehicle batteries in the three islands, defined the needs of the three locations and developed a concept of pre-treatment process.
The project also concludes that there is a need for:
- regulations for handling of electric vehicle batteries
- an economic system to ensure that actors are able to receive and handle the batteries correctly
- more knowledge about electric vehicle batteries and safe ways to handle and store them
- more training and tools as the technology develops rapidly
According to Karolina Kazmierczak the Nordic island countries are now better equipped to handle electric vehicle batteries:
“The project PROACTIVE was important to highlight the challenges and possibilities to have a proactive approach to establish an efficient and safe process to handle end-of-life electric vehicle batteries. Even though the volumes of the batteries are still low, the key stakeholders from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland who participated in the project, are better prepared and have more knowledge that will be helpful when the volumes of the EOL batteries increase.”
Hanna Törmänen, Senior Advisor at Nordic Innovation, highlights the importance of sharing best practices:
“The PROACTIVE project has in an innovation process developed concrete and step-by-step recommendations and battery flows that other companies, stakeholders, regions and countries can build upon. These have potential to have impact as a benchmark for the other Nordic countries and beyond. Transfer of best practices is crucial for circular economy transition.”
