Vianode and FAAM say they have completed a demonstration of recycling waste graphite from battery production back into high-performance anode material. The two companies now want to scale the process for industrial use.

Vianode, a Norwegian battery materials specialist, supplied the anode technology. FAAM, an Italian battery manufacturer, provided the production-side waste stream and battery-making capability. The demonstration covered the loop the industry has discussed for years: taking graphite scrap from cell manufacturing and converting it into anode material that meets the performance requirements of new cells.

Both parties describe the technical demonstration as successful. They reported that graphite recovered from battery production waste performed as high-performance anode material. The companies did not disclose tonnages, cell counts, or a timeline for the scale-up phase in their announcement.

The distinction between a proven laboratory or pilot demonstration and confirmed industrial capacity matters here. What Vianode and FAAM have announced is a validated technical approach plus an intention to industrialize it. Neither company has yet committed to a specific plant, capacity figure, or investment size for the recycling route. Production volumes, yields, and unit economics at scale remain unverified until the partners publish hard numbers or anchor the process to a named facility.

Graphite is the largest battery material by mass in a conventional lithium-ion cell, and anode graphite has been one of the hardest components to close a recycling loop around. Most commercial battery recycling today targets cathode metals — lithium, nickel and cobalt — because their value justifies recovery costs. Graphite, cheaper and more abundant, has typically been downcycled or discarded. A process that returns production scrap to anode-grade quality would give cell makers a domestic secondary supply route and reduce dependence on primary graphite, which in Europe is largely imported.

For FAAM, the work fits its position as one of the few battery manufacturers operating cell production in Italy. For Vianode, it extends a business built around synthetic anode graphite. The Norwegian company has been developing anode materials for EV cell makers and has positioned recycling as part of its materials portfolio strategy.

The announcement places the two companies among a growing group of European players testing graphite recovery. Whether their process can compete on cost with virgin synthetic graphite — and whether recovered material qualifies under EU battery regulation recycled-content requirements — will determine commercial uptake.

What to watch next: a scale-up announcement from Vianode and FAAM with a named site, capacity and timeline; published yield and purity data from industrial-scale trials; and the EU's implementing rules on recycled content in batteries, which will shape the demand side for recovered graphite from 2031 onward.