Fortum Battery Recycling Harjavalta Hydrometallurgical Plant

Fortum Battery Recycling Oy's hydrometallurgical plant in Harjavalta, Finland, opened 27 April 2023 as Europe's largest closed-loop hydrometallurgical battery recycling facility and its first commercial-scale one, recovering up to 95% of the valuable metals in lithium-ion battery black mass as nickel and cobalt sulphates. 'Project Fortum Hydromet' is annex entry (35) of the EU CRMA first Strategic Projects list (recycling, Finland; lithium (battery grade), graphite (battery grade), copper, nickel (battery grade) and cobalt). The graphite output is recycled graphite CONCENTRATE upgraded by others, per the locked chain rule: a May 2025 memorandum of understanding with Vianode covers supply of high-quality recycled graphite concentrate from Harjavalta, which Vianode would develop and optimize for its own commercial-scale anode production. Business Finland granted EUR 84.6 million (announced 10 July 2025) toward expanding black-mass processing from 3,000 to up to 28,000 tonnes per year, but the grant is conditional and no final investment decision has been made. Status reflects the December 2025 signal: change negotiations completed 17 December 2025 phase out Ikaalinen and Tornio operations during H1 2026 while the company states it operates the Harjavalta hydrometallurgical plant and plans to expand it. Modeling compromises: black-mass input is recorded as blended-anode-material, and the concentrate output uses the natural-graphite-concentrate token although the recovered material is recycled (mixed-origin) graphite concentrate, not mined flake.

Facts on this page last re-verified Aug 12, 2026 — the oldest verification date among its current claims. How we verify.