Innovating for sustainability
Evonik has put sustainability at the heart of its innovation strategy . We report from a recent press conference
“ Innovations play a key role in aligning Evonik consistently with sustainability ,” the German-based speciality chemicals company stated ahead of presenting some of its key recent developments in the field at a press conference . “ They are also important to leverage sustained growth .”
Between 2015 and 2021 , ‘ innovation growth fields ’ generated more than € 500 million in additional sales for Evonik and they increased by 40 % over 2020 . In the ten-year period to 2025 , it aims to generate additional sales of over € 1 billion with these fields .
In May 2022 , Evonik announced that it will be investing more than € 3 billion in what it calls ‘ next generation solutions ’, meaning products with superior sustainability benefits , up to 2030 . The goal is for them to account for more than 50 % of sales .
A further € 700 million will be invested in the development of these technologies , that is , production processes and infrastructure to avoid CO 2 emissions . “ Innovations will be needed to meet the sustainability targets associated with this billion-euro investment programme ,” the company said .
As part of this , the company has refocused its Creavis unit as “ a strategic innovation unit and business incubator ”, developing innovations for key issues of the future , such as the hydrogen economy and circularity , environment-friendly agriculture , and knowledge- and data-based business models . Dr Ralph Marquardt has been named as chief innovation officer , with sustainability as his central focus .
Lithium recycling
Among the sustainable technologies Evonik is working on is the recycling of lithium from the batteries of electric
vehicles ( EVs ). This will become a pressing issue as the take-up of EVs grows and many lithium-ion batteries come to the end of their service life in the next few years .
There will also be more lithium waste from the many battery facilities now being set up and legislation is a further factor . The EU has ruled that at least 35 % of the lithium from spent batteries will have to be recovered by 2026 and 70 % by 2030 . China and the US also have regulations on the recovery of lithium .
Metals from spent batteries is currently recovered by pyrometallurgical ( smelting ) and hydrometallurgical ( leaching ) processes , or combinations of them . These work well for cobalt and nickel , but less so for lithium : only 5 % of spent lithium from EV batteries is currently recycled .
These processes are also costintensive , require large quantities of energy and water , and involve many interim steps and additional chemicals .
Lithium recycling by electrolysis
42 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981