Circular economy
A second life for electric vehicle batteries
The research project CircuBAT aims to close the loop between the production, use and recycling of automotive lithium-ion batteries. Seven Swiss research institutions, including Empa, and 24 companies joined forces to develop solutions that enhance sustainability at all stages of the batteries’ life cycle. The project is part of the Flagship Initiative of Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency. Now, the project comes to a successful conclusion. The closing conference CircuBAT2025 takes place on 13 and 14 November in the BERNEXPO Foyer and will address the subject through the lens of science, politics and society.
Electric vehicles are key to making mobility more environmentally friendly. In particular, their core, the lithium-ion battery, offers significant potential to further improve their ecological footprint over the entire life cycle. This is where CircuBAT comes in. The creation of a circular economy model for automotive lithium-ion batteries was successfully implemented over a period of four years. “We have developed innovative solutions that are attracting worldwide attention. These solutions represent a first step on the way to closing the battery loop with stations distributed around the globe,” says project manager Andrea Vezzini of Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH.
Collaboration between research and the economy
BFH is the Leading House in the CircuBAT project. On the science side, six other Swiss research institutions are involved in the project: Empa, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), the University of St. Gallen (HSG), the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST), the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne (SIPBB) and EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Lausanne. These institutions are joined by 24 companies from the economy and industry, ranging from material specialists and manufacturing companies to users and providers of electric vehicles. The collaboration between science and the economy ensured that the project covered all phases of a battery’s life cycle and that the solutions developed could be tested in practice. Several of these solutions are about to be launched on the market or are being pursued in follow-up projects and start-ups.
CircuBAT conference
Where: BERNEXPO, Festhalle, Bern
When: Thursday and Friday, 13-14 November 2025
- Thursday, 1.30pm to 5.30pm: open to the public; participation free or charge
- Friday: 9am to 4.50pm: open to professionals; participation subject to a fee
Programme and registration: https://circubat.ch/circubat-2025-conference/
Registration is compulsory.
Optimisation in all areas
The CircuBAT project focuses on identifying solutions that enhance sustainability in all phases of a lithium-ion battery’s life cycle. This includes extending the lifespan of batteries during their first use. This is achieved with the implementation of an interactive ‘Battery Expert System’, which allows a comparison in an intuitive form of the ageing process of a large number of batteries, and with new concepts for battery construction that make repairs easy. In addition, the project aims to put batteries to use as stationary energy storage systems after they have retired from their first mobility-related use.
In the course of the project, optimisation strategies for the safe and efficient operation of several battery packs with uneven degradation were implemented in a control system. Finally, the researchers developed automated solutions for demanufacturing sub-steps and new processes for direct material recovery. This aims to facilitate the incorporation of secondary raw materials into the production of new batteries and other applications. In addition to these technical aspects, the project also developed the Swiss circular economy model for lithium-ion batteries, which will enable future volumes to be estimated, for example for the Swiss second-life battery market. CircuBAT will therefore play a key role in decarbonising mobility in Switzerland and promoting the use of renewable energy.
Of the seven subprojects, three were led by Empa researchers. The subproject “Material Recovery,” led by Empa researchers from the Technology and Society laboratory, aimed to optimize and further develop a recycling process developed by Kyburz Switzerland. In the subproject “Cell Manufacturing,” researchers from Empa's Materials for Energy Conversion laboratory developed a novel electrode coating that can lead to significant energy and cost savings. In the subproject “Sustainable Business Model,” experts from Empa and the University of St. Gallen, together with other partners, are developing a viable business model for a sustainable battery recycling system.
Two-day closing conference
The two-day CircuBAT2025 event on 13 and 14 November 2025 will mark the end of one of the first projects approved by the Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse as part of the Flagship Initiative. The initiative supports systematic innovations in areas of relevance for a large part of the economy or society, and focuses on solutions for current or future challenges affecting multiple stakeholders who need to come together to overcome these challenges
The public closing conference on Thursday afternoon, 13 November 2025, will provide a comprehensive overview of the Swiss circular economy model developed for automotive lithium-ion batteries. In addition, speakers from politics and science will provide an overview of the current status of the circular economy in Switzerland and in a global context.
The scientific part of the conference will take place on Friday, offering valuable insights into the recently developed Swiss circular economy model for lithium-ion batteries and other international projects in this field. The event will focus on the implementation of the scientific findings, with exclusive insights into the project results and personal perspectives from the experts involved.
Project manager
Prof. Dr. Andrea Vezzini
Head of project CIRCUBAT and Head of the Electrical Machines and Drives Laboratory, Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, Engineering and Computer Science
Phone +41 32 321 63 72
Viktor Hangartner
Project Management Officer CircuBAT, Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, Engineering and Computer Science
Phone +41 31 848 58 11
Material Recovery
Dr. Nora Bartolomé
Empa, Critical Materials and Resource Efficiency Group (CARE)
Phone +41 58 765 73 25
Cell Manufacturing
Prof. Dr. Corsin Battaglia
Empa, Head of the Materials for Energy Conversion Laboratory
Phone +41 58 765 41 31
1st Life Use
Prof. Dr. Priscilla Caliandro
Head of Energy Storage Research Centre (ESReC), Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, Engineering and Computer Science
Phone +41 31 848 31 80
2nd Life Use System
Prof. Simon Nigsch
Head of Elektrische Energiesysteme IES, Ostschweizer Fachhochschule OST
Phone +41 58 257 31 78
2nd Life Operation
Prof. Dr. Mario Paolone
EPFL, Distributed Electrical Systems Laboratory
Phone +41 21 693 26 62
Andreas Hutter
Head of Energy Systems
Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique CSEM
Phone +41 32 720 51 56
Module Disassembly and Components Recover
Christian Ochsenbein
Head of Swiss Battery Technology Center
Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne SIPBB
Phone +41 32 530 88 88
Sustainable Business Model
Dr. Roland Hischier
Phone +41 58 765 78 47
Prof. Dr. Rolf Wüstenhagen
Co-Director Institute for Economy and Environment IWÖ, University of St. Gallen (HSG)
Phone +41 71 224 25 84
