Introducing the EU European Commission’s STREAMS Initiative: Sustainable Technologies for Reducing Europe’s battery raw Materials dependence.
Driving Europe's Battery Independence and Sustainability.
American Energy Technologies Co. (AETC) is pleased to announce that it has formally joined a consortium of nineteen organizations spanning across Europe, Australia, and the United States of America, which was competitively selected based upon Regulation (EU) No 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe relating to the Action entitled “Sustainable Technologies for Reducing Europe’s bAttery raw MaterialS dependence”, or “STREAMS” for short.
Embarking on a groundbreaking mission, the STREAMS Initiative aims to revolutionize Europe's position in the battery manufacturing landscape. Funded by the Horizon Europe Programme under Agreement No. 101137771, this pioneering initiative aims to strengthen the domestic battery materials supply chain, diminish Europe's reliance on imported raw materials, and boost its resilience, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy in the global battery manufacturing industry.
Over a period of three years, STREAMS will address the critical imperative to support Europe's economic foundation, aligning it with the green and artificial intelligence (AI) transitions, while reducing dependence on Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) from external sources.
Led by the Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AIT), Vienna, Austria, STREAMS addresses the European Union's challenges in sourcing and processing of critical raw materials for batteries, encompassing lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, and beyond. This initiative aligns closely with sustainable development goals, targeting clean energy, science & technology, battery engineering, responsible consumption, and adequate climate action. Positioned strategically, STREAMS contributes significantly to Europe's battery independence by pioneering sustainable technologies for raw material recovery and processing, in accordance with the Strategic Action Plan on Batteries and established EU’s regulations.
To achieve its objectives, STREAMS will focus on several key areas:
Strengthening the domestic supply chain: STREAMS will strengthen Europe's battery materials supply chain, diminishing EU’s dependence on imported raw materials and bolstering resilience, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy in the global lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry;
Comprehensive manufacturing solutions: the project will bear witness to the implementation of at least twelve innovative, flexible and scalable technologies for the sustainable production of battery-grade precursors, anode, and cathode active materials;
Utilization of diverse critical raw materials streams: STREAMS will advocate for the utilization of various primary and secondary sources, along with recycled battery materials, to further diminish reliance on third countries for the supply of primary feedstocks of critical battery raw materials; and
Circular models for sustainability: STREAMS will fine-tune circular models in manufacturing of battery cells and raw materials for BoM (Bill of Materials for lithium-ion batteries) via advanced life cycle assessment methodologies that require applying safe and sustainable-by-design framework (SSbD) recommended by the European Commission, Eco-design with factoring in of strategic forms of LCA and sLCA (i.e. Streamlined LCA/LCC/sLCA, emerging technologies in LCA (LCA-ET) and circularity measurements in accordance with the latest ISO 59020 Standard.
STREAMS stands at the forefront of Europe's efforts to secure its position in the global battery manufacturing industry while advancing sustainability and battery industry resiliency objectives. Through collaboration, innovation, and commitment to achieving an ambitious goal of STREAMS, the Consortium seeks to help reshaping the battery supply chain and propel Europe towards a greener, more sustainable future.
STREAMS brings together a powerful consortium of 19 corporate partners from 13 different countries. The consortium is composed of five research centers/organizations, four universities and ten industrial manufacturing companies & SMEs. Importantly, two corporate partners on the STREAMS Consortium represent Ukraine, the newest EU candidate state. An enormous amount of integration work lies ahead in harmonizing Ukrainian mineral mining and battery metals processing policies with those of the EU. These two organizations are integrated into the local Ministries of Science & Education and Economics, respectively, and will liaise with local policymakers as experts of the developments in the EU CRM, assisting in making Ukraine’s future integration into the EU more seamless.
The consortium is well balanced and each partner has a clear role defined and brings a specific contribution along the value chain of the project.
American Energy Technologies Co.’s Emily Schmidt, Business Development Representative & Project Manager, was quoted in saying: “We are very excited about the fact that our woman-owned small business from Wheeling, Illinois was competitively selected by the European Commission as the value-added graphite and carbon processor and battery recycler, allowing us to become a formal Consortium Member in this prestigious EU-centric initiative. Our company employs its advanced technology of Direct Recycling for the recovery and “healing” of up to 97% of spent battery components. The recovered graphite, which accounts for 48 percent of the battery Bill of Materials, is basically fully extracted, repaired, and returned as recycled graphite into the European lithium-ion battery supply chain. Additionally, AETC has been designated as STREAMS’ sole processor of primary feedstocks based on natural crystalline flake graphite and synthetic carbon-based precursors. The latter includes biochar manufactured by GLOCK Ges.m.b.H., Austria’s renowned precision pistol manufacturer and a significant metallurgical producer in the European Union, represented in the Consortium by GLOCK Technology GmbH, of Ferlach, Austria. The diverse raw materials streams delivered to AETC for processing will be converted within our industrial facility into anode active materials and cathode conductivity enhancement additives for use in advanced lithium-ion batteries for automotive and energy storage applications for renewable energy. The upgraded materials will be returned to the EU partners for rigorous qualification and integration into the European battery supply chain so as to reduce EU’s dependence on critical raw materials for lithium-ion batteries, which currently find their roots in Southeastern Asia. This project has already forged many strong partnerships with more exciting news to come by the day”.
We are proud to be partners of the STREAMS project!
Learn more about our mission to revolutionize battery technology and sustainability:
Consortium Partners at a Glance:
SiPow | Instytut Sorbtsiyi Ta Problem Endoekolohiyi Natsionalnoyi Akademiyi Nauk Ukrayiny (ISPE) | University of Oulu | Leitat Technological Center | TREIBACHER Industrie AG | University of Liège | Nanopow As | TÜBİTAK | Łukasiewicz - IMN | Enviva | F6S Innovation | Ukrainian Research And Design Institute Of Electrothermal Equipment (UNE) | Evolution Energy Minerals | American Energy Technologies Company | Imperial College London | University of Warwick