The European Commission Signs Grant Agreement for the Polvolt Project EUR 150.7 million from the Innovation Fund for Elemental Battery Metals

Zawiercie / Brussels, 24 March 2026 – Elemental Battery Metals, a company within the Elemental Group, has signed a grant agreement with the European Commission for the Polvolt project in Zawiercie. The grant of EUR 150.692 million comes from the Innovation Fund – one of the world’s largest funding programmes for low-carbon technologies, financed through revenues from the auctioning of EU emission allowances.

In the same call, the European Commission awarded a total of EUR 2.9 billion to 61 low-carbon technology projects.

Polvolt will deliver materials sufficient to produce 90,000 tonnes of batteries annually, equivalent to approximately 450,000 electric vehicles.

“Signing the agreement with the European Commission marks another important milestone in the implementation of the Polvolt project. This grant brings the European Union and Poland closer to independence from external suppliers of critical raw materials. At the same time, it reflects the trust that the Commission places in the Elemental Group as the entity responsible for building and operating this investment,” emphasises Paweł Jarski, CEO of the Elemental Group.

“In line with the assumptions of the Critical Raw Materials Act, the European Union aims to source 25% of its critical raw materials from recycling by 2030. Our Polvolt project in Zawiercie is becoming a key element of Europe’s strategy to reduce dependence on external suppliers of critical raw materials,” says Maciej Dudzic, Member of the Management Board of Elemental Battery Metals. “The metals to be recovered in Zawiercie are essential for strategic sectors such as electromobility, renewable energy, defence, and artificial intelligence,” he adds.

Project and Scope

Polvolt is the largest industrial project of the Elemental Group, designed as a centre for the recovery and refining of critical raw materials from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and end-of-life batteries.

The project combines two platforms: large-scale smelting and refining of copper and precious metals from electronic scrap, as well as advanced refining of black mass to recover lithium, nickel and cobalt.

The largest greenfield investment in Poland carried out by a private company is being implemented in stages.

The first phase of the Elemental Group’s investment programme was completed with the opening of the Elemental Strategic Metals (ESM) facility in Zawiercie in June 2024. The plant includes a lithium-ion battery recycling installation and a facility producing platinum group metals from used automotive catalysts.

At ESM, eight out of the 34 critical raw materials identified by the European Commission are recovered: cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper and nickel, as well as platinum group metals – palladium, platinum and rhodium.

The second phase – the Polvolt project – assumes that from 2031, Elemental Battery Metals will produce gold, silver, copper and battery metals (cobalt, lithium, nickel and manganese) at an industrial scale.

Financing and Investment Scale

The total value of capital expenditures in Zawiercie over seven years will amount to approximately USD 1 billion. The Polvolt project is the largest investment carried out by a private entity in a strategic sector in Poland.

The project is financed through three sources. In September 2025, the Ministry of Development and Technology signed an agreement with Elemental Battery Metals for funding of PLN 1.038 billion under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF).

This is complemented by the Innovation Fund grant awarded by the European Commission, as well as Elemental Group’s own and external financing. The total value of public grants covers approximately 50% of the project’s total costs.

The Scale of the Problem: Critical Raw Materials Lost in WEEE

The report FutuRaM 2050 Critical Raw Materials Outlook (October 2025), prepared for the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme, highlights the scale of critical raw materials currently lost in electronic waste streams.

In 2022, EU27+4 countries generated 10.7 million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), containing an estimated 1.0 million tonnes of 29 different critical raw materials.

Only 54% of this volume – 5.7 million tonnes – was collected through systems compliant with the WEEE Directive and properly processed. The remaining 46%, approximately 5.0 million tonnes, was not properly collected or treated.

As a result of non-compliant collection, 0.5 million tonnes of critical raw materials were lost, and a further 0.1 million tonnes were lost during recovery, despite the waste reaching appropriate facilities.

The report indicates that by 2050, the amount of critical raw materials contained in WEEE could increase to between 1.2 and 1.9 million tonnes annually, with collection losses ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 million tonnes depending on the scenario.

Regulatory Context: CRMA and Strategic Projects

The sourcing and recovery of critical raw materials – including lithium, nickel and copper – are now one of the pillars of Europe’s economic security.

In 2024, the European Union adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), setting targets for 2030: at least 10% of consumption from EU extraction, 40% from processing, and 25% from recycling, while reducing dependency on single suppliers.

In March 2025, the European Commission identified 47 strategic projects with a total value of EUR 22.5 billion – including the Polvolt project in Zawiercie. Poland secured two places on this list. Polvolt is one of the two Polish projects of strategic importance for the EU.

Raw Materials for Industry, Jobs for the Region

Polvolt will supply materials sufficient to produce 90,000 tonnes of batteries annually, equivalent to approximately 450,000 electric vehicles.

The installation is expected to achieve an 86% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the baseline scenario. Metals recovered in Zawiercie will be supplied to the energy, defence, automotive and telecommunications industries.

The project will create over 250 jobs in the Silesia region, as well as indirect employment opportunities. Elemental Battery Metals plans to cooperate with local universities and support workforce upskilling.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.