Orano is positioned upstream and downstream of the electric vehicle battery value chain, contributing to the creation of a robust and sustainable European circular economy. To validate the industrialisation stage, Orano is relying on several pre-industrial pilot: a hydrometallurgical recycling project and a PCAM pilot.
Recycling, an unique industrial pilot in France
The recycling stage in the electric vehicle battery value chain is essential to achieving a sustainable, low-carbon circular economy. The development of recycling facilities in Europe, including in France, will contribute to European autonomy in the supply of strategic materials for which the region currently lacks resources. In the absence of adequate natural mineral resources in France, Orano's recycling plant will become one of the urban mines of tomorrow.
Orano's hydrometallurgy project receives European certification
To accelerate battery recycling on an industrial scale, Orano is drawing on its long-standing expertise in hydrometallurgical processes, developed through its nuclear activities. The industrial project of hydrometallurgy in Dunkirk, the industrial pilot project, certified as a ‘strategic project’ in March 2025 by the European Union, aims to recycle materials of interest with very high purity output products, compatible with reuse in new electric vehicle batteries. Its innovative pre-treatment process, which is technologically disruptive and safer than conventional grinding, maximises the recovery of metals of interest and graphite, ensuring their closed-loop recycling.
On 25 March 2025, Orano's hydrometallurgy project in France, which involves recycling electric vehicle battery components, was declared a strategic project by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), alongside 46 other European industrial projects. Six projects concern battery recycling: Orano is the only project recognised as such in France.
A PCAM pilot in Grenoble
The PCAM (Precursors for Active Cathode Materials) pilot is part of the Neomat PCAM joint venture created in December 2024 between Orano and XTC New Energy. Located at CEA Liten in Grenoble, the PCAM pilot aims to validate the industrial process that will be deployed at the Neomat site in Dunkirk, alongside the CAM plant and the recycling plant.
The PCAM project, Grand Innovation Fund Award
On 3 November 2025, the Neomat PCAM plant project received the Grant Innovation Fund from the European Commission, considering that this cutting-edge project in the field of ‘net zero’ technology aims to strengthen Europe's technological leadership and accelerate the deployment of innovative decarbonisation solutions.