Battery recycling risks falling short of targets – Tampere-based company part of the solution

Europe needs faster action on battery recycling. In the Tampere region, companies are offering solutions to improve the battery life cycle. Cellife ranked among the top ten in a startup competition.

According to a report, recycled materials could be used to build between 1.3 and 2.4 million electric vehicles by 2030 – and up to 10 million by 2035.

In the EU, the UK and EFTA countries, 12.8 million passenger cars were registered. Even the most conservative estimates suggest that a fleet built from recycled materials could account for ten percent of new cars.

Transport & Environment (T&E), which examines the environmental impact of transport, published a report last December. Recycled lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese could cover a significant share of the EU’s and the UK’s demand — but current recycling capacity is only a tenth of what’s needed to meet the 2030 targets. The story was also reported by Reuters.

The report From Waste to Value: The Potential for Battery Recycling in Europe questions whether current measures will be enough.

“Around 44 percent of the announced material processing capacities in Europe are at significant risk or have already been halted due to project complexity and high investment and operating costs in emerging markets,” the report states.

EU-level action and local players in Tampere

We recently reported (Wed 18 June 2025) that the new Horizon Europe work programmes have been published. They offer fresh opportunities for battery sector stakeholders, with a total of €7.2 billion in funding available.

“Now is the perfect time to seize the opportunity and make use of what Horizon Europe has to offer. In addition to end users, companies in the Tampere Region are working on battery technologies and activities related to their production and life cycle,” says Jari Ahola, EU funding expert at Business Tampere.

Cellife, a diagnostics provider for the battery industry in the Tampere region, is working towards battery reuse.

“We can optimise battery use throughout its entire life cycle, from production to use, maintenance, recycling and reuse. Our AI-powered method allows for testing any type of battery, in any location or application,” says Roni Luhtala, CEO of Cellife. Luhtala holds a doctorate in technology and is one of the company’s three co-founders.

Cellife advanced to the top ten in an EU-backed acceleration and investment programme in early summer. Roni Luhtala holds the trophy awarded for reaching the top 50. Photo: Petri Kangas / Business Tampere

Europe is ready to act

The EU-backed acceleration and investment programme European Startup Prize for Mobility (EUSP) selected Cellife among the top 50 promising startups advancing sustainable mobility in spring 2025. The company has since advanced to the top ten. The news was announced in early June.

Luhtala says that Cellife has also been selected to join a Horizon Europe project aimed at researching battery chemistries.

There are many ways to test batteries. Using two ballpoint pens as props, Luhtala demonstrates how Cellife’s diagnostics system probes a battery’s performance. Their method is relatively fast: it takes just 2 to 5 seconds and, according to the CEO, generates a vast amount of data on the battery’s condition. In comparison, Luhtala notes that CT imaging can be used to test only a small portion of production batches to check, for example, whether the welds are intact. A cycle test, which involves charging, discharging and recharging, is considerably slower.

“Our role is to act as a quality controller. When new types of battery cells are produced, they go through our diagnostics. We assess whether there are manufacturing defects, whether the cells are usable, second-rate or should be sent for recycling. We are the only one providing the full package: the hardware, software, diagnostics and data platform,” Luhtala says.

A solid region for development

“We are a young company, and our revenue figures are not much to boast about yet. Right now, we are focused on growth,” Luhtala says.

There is a solid foundation in Tampere and the surrounding region, Luhtala says. A few companies are active, although he notes that the battery industry is not yet broadly established.

“Large-scale production is challenging here — we’re not located by the sea. But research and expertise are clear strengths of the region. This is an excellent place for product development and recruitment. The universities are outstanding, and most of our thirteen employees have studied locally,” Luhtala says.

Luhtala sums it up by saying that quality and quality control are the most important values when the aim is to use natural resources in a sustainable way.

“This is still quite new for Europe. One in three battery cells ends up being discarded. Hardly anyone dares to buy a used electric car with high mileage. A car can have a thousand cells, and if one fails, it can compromise the performance of the entire battery pack. Once we overcome these quality issues, it won’t matter if the car has a hundred thousand kilometres on it,” Luhtala says.