Side events - 31st International Congress for Battery Recycling ICBR 2026

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Time: 14:00 - 18:00

Location: JW Marriott Hotel Berlin

Organizer: BatteReverse

As EoL EV volumes start to increase, the industry faces growing safety, cost, and compliance risks in handling end‑of‑life batteries. This deep dive session explores how battery circularity players, including OEMs, recyclers, logistics providers, dismantlers, and policymakers, can build safer, more scalable, and more efficient reverse logistics systems for EV batteries.

Using concrete cases and insights from the BatteReverse project as a starting point, participants will work through topics such as battery passports and condition assessment, automated dismantling, and safe transport and storage. Instead of a one‑way project presentation, we will use short inputs and guided discussions to surface participants’ own bottlenecks and compare practical solution pathways.

Through breakout exercises and plenary exchanges, attendees will identify critical handover points and data needs, and discuss which technologies and collaborations are most promising to pilot in the near term. You will leave with a clearer view of the opportunities and risks for your organisation, and concrete ideas for next steps and partnerships to enable battery reverse logistics at scale.

Learn more about BatteReverse: https://www.battereverse.eu/

Schedule:

14:00 - 14:15 Welcome
14:15 - 14:45 Setting the scene: Overview of the current EV battery reverse logistics
market and BatteReverse results
14:45 - 15:35 Joint presentation: Technical solutions across the reverse logistics chain
15:35 - 16:10 Breakout session: From results to real-world adoption
16:10 - 16:30 Coffee break
16:30 - 16:50 Joint presentation of cross-cutting enablers: data, passports, and business models
16:50 - 17:45 Breakout session: Data needs and business viability
17:45 - 18:00 Closing

Friday, September 11, 2026

Time: 09:00 - 12:00

Location: JW Marriott Hotel Berlin

Research co-authors: Martina Orefice, Fabio Massimo Manni, Edoardo Righetti, Fabrice Mathieux

Organizer: RECHARGE & Joint Research Center (JRC)

Contributors:

Benoît Samanos, Mecaware, France
Nick De Coker, Umicore, Belgium
Claude Chanson, RECHARGE, Belgium
Kinga Timaru-Kast, RECHARGE, Belgium
Olaf Rogge, BASF Battery Materials and Recycling, Germany
Martina Orefice, Joint Research Centre, Italy

The EU Battery Regulation ((EU) 2023/1542) establishes ambitious recycling efficiency (RE) and material recovery targets, while the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606 creates a level playing field for recyclers with diverse business models. The recent amendment of the Waste Framework Directive’s (2008/98/EC) list of waste, which restricts the export of black mass to non-OECD countries by classifying it as hazardous waste, is expected to limit the outflows of waste batteries and their recycling intermediates as the black mass. The amount of collected waste batteries in the EU is expected to soon exceed the available pretreatment capacity, plus the refining capacity for the resulting black-mass is also expected to remain insufficient. These factors combined with uncertain regulatory evolvement and enforcement challenges and more favourable economic conditions for treatment outside the EU, are causing a substantial export of recoverable materials from waste batteries. The situation might worsen as the volume of collected waste batteries grows.

The Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act ((EU) 2024/1252) aims for secondary raw material production equivalent to 25% of domestic demand with possible specific recycling benchmarks for key waste streams, including waste batteries. The overall objective will be to build a resilient circular value chain and reduce dependence on third-country supplies of critical battery materials.

In this context, the JRC is carrying out an analysis on selected CRMs of the EU battery recycling sector in relation to the CRM Act’s objectives. Combining modelling data on demand and supply of primary and secondary battery materials with a techno-economic analysis of the existing and planned recycling capacity in the EU, the workshop investigates the possible developments of the EU battery recycling industry and the distance from the CRM Act’s objectives in the short-medium term.

Expected takeaways:

Together with RECHARGE, the JRC aims at presenting the analysis results at the workshop and exploring pathways to strengthen the sector and create optimal conditions for a thriving EU battery recycling industry. The workshop will give the chance to industry stakeholders to provide feedback on concrete and effective actions that can enhance resilience, autonomy and competitiveness of the EU battery value chain. RECHARGE will present on the occasion of the workshop its latest Industry Guidance Document on Black Mass.

Research co-authors: Martina Orefice, Fabio Massimo Manni, Edoardo Righetti, Fabrice Mathieux

The workshop will take place with a minimum of 8 delegates.

Friday, September 11, 2026

Location: Magdeburg, Germany

BLC - The Battery Lifecycle Company GmbH is a joint venture between Rhenus and TSR. The company supports the customers and partners by offering solutions along entire life cycle of batteries like repair, reuse and recycling.

LRP Autorecycling is Germany’s leading end-of-life vehicle recycler, with over 30 years of experience and more than 20,000 vehicles processed annually. Through a nationwide take-back network of certified partners, we ensure free, fully compliant collection and recycling of passenger cars (M1) and light commercial vehicles (N1) on behalf of OEMs.

We cover the full value chain: from efficient take-back and logistics, environmentally compliant removal of fluids and hazardous materials, to high-quality dismantling and the sale of tested used spare parts. With strong project expertise, a clear focus on digitalization and innovation, and a deep-rooted commitment to sustainability, LRP positions itself as a key player in the automotive circular economy.

Schedule:

08:00 Departure from the JW Marriott Hotel Berlin
10:00 Arrival at LRP-Autorecycling Magdeburg GmbH
10:15 Welcome & safety inductions
10:30 Visit of the LRP-Autorecycling plant
11:30 walk to BLC - The Battery Lifecycle Company
11:45 Visit of the BLC - The Battery Lifecycle Company plant
12:45 Informal networking & refreshment
14:00 Departure to Berlin
16:00* Arrival at the Berlin airport
16:45* Arrival at the JW Marriott Hotel Berlin

*No guarantee of an arrival time

The tour will take place with a minimum of 8 delegates.