FREYR Battery and Glencore International AG have announced that they have signed a contract for the supply of up to 1,500 metric tons of high-grade, sustainably sourced cobalt metal cut cathodes made from partially recycled cobalt produced at Glencore's Nikkelverk facility in Norway.
"We are very pleased to progress and expand our relationship with Glencore, a global leader in the supply and recycling of battery raw materials and the production of cobalt," said Tom Einar Jensen, the CEO of FREYR.
"The agreement aims to supply our production facilities with recycled, sustainably sourced, and traceable cobalt, which will be refined at Glencore's Norwegian operations as part of a growing local sustainable battery value chain. The next natural step is to jointly seek to 100 percent decarbonize the supply of cobalt and other battery materials to support our sustainable production of clean, low-cost, and low-carbon battery cells."
Jyothish George, Head of Metals Marketing, Zinc and Copper at Glencore, commented, "Glencore supports FREYR's goal of producing batteries with the world's lowest lifecycle carbon footprint and contributing to our ambition of net-zero total emissions by 2050. Both companies share a strong conviction that we need to develop a sustainable battery value chain from the mining of raw materials to recycling of used batteries that ensures fair value creation for all stakeholders while minimizing emissions and waste generation."
The supply contract follows the Letter of Intent (LOI) between FREYR, and Glencore announced on February 9, 2021. Cobalt is a core component in FREYR's lithium-ion battery cells, which will be produced at the company's facilities under development in Mo i Rana, Norway.
FREYR and Glencore will cooperate closely to minimize their carbon footprint and define actions and milestones to meet the common ambition of 100 percent carbon-neutral material, including the potential use of carbon offsets schemes. The companies will also collaborate to develop a scheme to introduce recycling certificates to document the delivery of recycled material as well as on the collection and processing of battery scrap generated during the production of battery material and cells.
The agreement also covers exploring potential collaboration structures between Glencore and FREYR in Norway and around the world. This expanded collaboration targets the supply of nickel to FREYR and the supply of recycling scrap from NCM cells produced by FREYR in line with the timeline for FREYR's planned production of battery cells in Mo i Rana, Norway.
FREYR and Glencore will also explore potential collaboration for battery material and battery scrap recycling and work together to assure responsible sourcing and recycling through third-party audits.