Description Transport is currently the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. To meet legal commitments to reduce emissions to Net Zero by 2050, major reductions are required. To meet the government’s aim of moving towards a circular economy, keeping resources in use as long as possible, minimising waste and promoting resource efficiency, the infrastructure for managing lithium-ion batteries when they are removed from electric vehicles (EVs) must be developed.This project aims to identify all the materials contained in lithium-ion batteries and determine the process of reuse / recycling to use at the end of their first life and so enhance the overall efficiency of the raw materials supply chain. An understanding of how to disassemble whole batteries safer than current techniques and a database of materials and potential reuse / recycling routes will be developed. A range of physical, chemical and thermal techniques will be used on selected components to investigate materials properties that would impact the performance of materials for reuse e.g. mechanical properties degradation, compositional changes, grain boundaries, defects, coatings. Through the different characterisation options, the project will expand the number of methods that provide key performance indicators. Key Objectives Build an understanding of how to strip down the whole battery safely and faster than present techniques allowBuild a database of end uses possible for lithium-ion batteries when they are no longer suitable for use in EVsBuild an understanding of how to reduce environmental impact by minimising the use of chemicals and human intervention by using advanced robotics to automate most processesBuild an understanding of how to recover a high proportion of the original materials in a reusable form and maintain high value materials streams to improve the economics of recyclingInvestigate factors that could be obstacles for reuse of materials such as grain boundaries, defects, coatings, and develop methods for the fundamental science underpinning the next generation of high-performance materials.