Recovery of Gallium from Ionic Liquids (ReGail) aims to develop a recovery process of Gallium from bulk sourced end-of-life (EoL) LEDs to supply the uptake of Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors in power electronics, machines, and drives (PEMD). The work in developing this EoL process will also lay the foundation for upscaling EoL recovery of GaN in PEMD. GaN is mostly used in LEDs but are increasingly being adopted by PEMD due to their superior qualities as semiconductors compared to its silicon counterpart. GaN has a wider band gap, switches faster, loses less heat and takes up less space. These qualities make it very desirable as a transistor for all sectors of interest (aerospace, automotive, energy, industrial drives and robotics, maritime, off highway, and rail), making it a desirable material to urban mine and build a UK supply chain for. The innovation is to create a circular sourced supply chain of Gallium in the UK. Building on established recycling methods and expanding it to encompass bulk sourced EoL LEDs. The recovered Gallium will then be used in new GaN transistors for PEMD, creating a sustainable supply chain, avoiding virgin mining, increasing the UK's supply chain resilience, and laying the foundation for establishing the EoL recycling process for PEMD. The project will analyse the current gallium recycling and LED end of life practices, will subsequently optimise the pre-treatment, demonstrate electroplating, and simulate the entire process. The impact of the process will be assessed with recommendations and a business plan provided. The findings will then be exploited and disseminated by a professional association.

"Project VALUABLE's key objectives are to develop commercially viable metrology and test processes as well as new supply chain concepts for recycling, reuse and remanufacturing of automotive lithium-ion batteries to create a complete End-of-Life (EoL) supply chain network within the UK. The consortium's vision is to 1) increase the value-add of the battery supply chain in the UK, 2) decrease the environmental impact, and 3) optimise future battery design for EoL. By bringing together many disparate parts of many sectors, the project will provide an efficient and effective route to providing second life battery applications, whilst reducing the packs / cells being fed into the waste streams. The project will investigate key areas that are providing difficulties in dealing with automotive batteries at their EoL: 1) the lack of reliable and cost-effective test methods, 2) the lack of remanufacturing/recycling and reuse processes, 3) the lack of effective value chains, and 4) lack of design considerations for EoL in battery design. To implement efficient processes, the project will investigate and develop advanced 'machine vision' capabilities, to determine which packs have second life potential and at what level and which are for recycling. This development of advanced testing capability in the EoL processing line, will enable the consortium to explore significant value chain applications for end-of-life batteries, ranging from remanufacturing to go back into the same vehicle model, to use in lower demand mobility applications, through to use as energy storage mediums for the energy market. The test results will also aid future first life battery pack design, providing OEMs and battery producers with routes to both realise additional value from future applications for used batteries and to move towards 95% recyclability. In conjunction with the development of new designs and processes, the project team will also explore the growing legal and regulatory issues surrounding the battery producer responsibility / waste classifications in the UK and Europe. In addition, not only will the battery cells be assessed, but the charge controllers, outer jackets, and other components. Reuse of these products contributes to the recycling targets, but also supports improved material recovery routes through better material separation. The project brings together partners across the supply chain, developing new EoL testing techniques, and in creating a UK-based EoL supply chain. The project is not only supported by the supply chain but also an industry-wide OEM support represented in a guiding advisory group."