Method for operating a production plant based on recycled materials

Abstract

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for providing plant allocation data usable for processing recycled materials, the computer-implemented method including the steps of providing one or more recycled material identifiers associated with the recycled material and corresponding recycled material data, identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material provided by the recycled material data, and providing plant allocation data including the at least one plant identifier and the associated recycled material identifier.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method and respective system, apparatus, use or computer element for providing plant allocation data usable for processing recycled materials. [Background technology]

[0002] Technology background The general background of the present disclosure relates to the processing of recycled materials. The processing of recycled materials is highly decentralized, i.e., plants that can process recycled materials are usually spatially distributed in many different locations. This makes the recycling process cumbersome. Therefore, there is a need to perform the recycling process in a more reliable and flexible manner. US2016371658 discloses (i) using a mobile device to identify a recyclable material based on a detected oscillation frequency of an oscillator associated with the recyclable material, and (iii) creating a scheduling instruction for the identified recyclable material by a controller. WO2013184217 discloses a method, system and apparatus for receiving a first plurality of product identifiers associated with products purchased by a consumer to form a purchase record. A second plurality of product identifiers associated with products recycled by the consumer is received. The record of purchased products recycled by the consumer is authenticated. US Patent Publication No. 2014106185 discloses that rechargeable batteries may be recycled through a cycle that includes one or more of determining a battery status while the rechargeable battery may be used within a network-enabled device, updating a rechargeable battery database with the battery status over a network, determining recycling instructions, and outputting the recycling instructions on the network-enabled device. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] Summary of the Invention Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for providing plant allocation data usable for processing recycled materials, the method comprising: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; The computer-implemented method includes:

[0004] Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for treating recycled material or operating a recycling process, preferably for providing plant allocation data usable for treating recycled material, the method comprising: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; The computer-implemented method includes:

[0005] Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for operating a recycling process, preferably for processing recycled materials, comprising: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material, the recycled material data associated with the recycled material being provided by a non-central computing node associated with the one or more recycling systems, and optionally the recycled material data associated with the recycled material being accessed by a non-central computing node associated with the one or more plants and / or the one or more recycling systems; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; - operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants; The computer-implemented method includes:

[0006] Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for operating a recycling process, preferably for processing recycled materials, comprising: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; - operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants; The computer-implemented method includes:

[0007] Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for operating a recycling process, preferably for processing recycled materials, comprising: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying plant allocation data by associating at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material via the provided recycled material data to the one or more recycled material identifiers; - operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants; The computer-implemented method includes:

[0008] Disclosed is an apparatus for providing plant allocation data for processing recycled materials, preferably usable for processing recycled materials, comprising one or more computing nodes and one or more computer readable media that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, causes the apparatus to: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; and one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to cause the device to

[0009] Disclosed is an apparatus for operating a recycling process, preferably for processing recycled materials, comprising one or more computing nodes and one or more computer readable media that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, causes the apparatus to: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; and one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to cause the device to

[0010] Disclosed is an apparatus for operating a recycling process, preferably for processing recycled materials, comprising one or more computing nodes and one or more computer readable media that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, causes the apparatus to: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material, the recycled material data associated with the recycled material being provided by a non-central computing node associated with the one or more recycling systems, and optionally the recycled material data associated with the recycled material being accessed by a non-central computing node associated with the one or more plants and / or the one or more recycling systems; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; - operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants; and one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to cause the device to

[0011] Disclosed is an apparatus for operating a recycling process, preferably for processing recycled materials, comprising one or more computing nodes and one or more computer readable media that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, causes the apparatus to: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, the plant identifier being provided by the recycled material data; - providing plant allocation data comprising at least one plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier; - operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants; and one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to cause the device to

[0012] Disclosed is an apparatus for operating a recycling process, preferably for processing recycled materials, comprising one or more computing nodes and one or more computer readable media that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, causes the apparatus to: - providing one or more recycled material identifiers and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material; - identifying plant allocation data by associating at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material via the provided recycled material data to the one or more recycled material identifiers; - operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants; and one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to cause the device to

[0013] Further disclosed is the use of a recycled material associated with a recycled material identifier in any of the methods disclosed herein or any of the apparatuses disclosed herein. Further disclosed is a method of using a recycled material associated with a recycled material identifier, the method including providing a recycled material identifier associated with the recycled material and providing plant allocation data provided according to any of the methods disclosed herein or by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0014] Further disclosed is the use of plant allocation data provided according to any of the methods disclosed herein or by any of the apparatus disclosed herein to transport, store and / or recycle recycled material provided by recycling at least one component of a product. Further disclosed is a method of transporting, storing and / or recycling recycled material provided by recycling at least one component of a product, comprising the steps of providing plant allocation data provided according to any of the methods disclosed herein or by any of the apparatus disclosed herein, generating transport, storage and / or recycling instructions based on the plant allocation data, and providing the transport, storage and / or recycling instructions.

[0015] Also disclosed is a method of transporting, storing and / or recycling materials provided by recycling at least one component of a product, the method comprising the steps of providing plant allocation data generated according to any of the methods or by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein, generating transport, storage and / or recycling instructions based on the provided plant allocation data, and providing the transport, storage and / or recycling instructions.

[0016] Also disclosed is an apparatus for transporting, storing and / or recycling product materials provided by recycling at least one component of a product, the apparatus including one or more computing nodes and one or more computer readable media having computer executable instructions thereon that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, are configured to cause the apparatus to: provide plant allocation data generated according to any of the methods disclosed herein or by any of the apparatus; generate transport, storage and / or recycling instructions based on the provided plant allocation data; and provide the transport, storage and / or recycling instructions.

[0017] Also disclosed is a computer element, such as a computer program or a computer readable storage medium having instructions configured, when executed by one or more computing nodes of the computing environment, to perform any of the steps of the methods disclosed herein and / or steps provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0018] Any disclosures and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, systems, uses, devices and computer elements disclosed herein, and vice versa. Advantages provided by any of the embodiments and examples provided herein apply equally to all other embodiments and examples, and vice versa.

[0019] Advantageously, the disclosure referred to herein provides an efficient, sustainable and robust method for operating a recycling process. By virtually sorting and / or recovering recycled materials and virtually allocating recycled materials to specific plants, the operation of the recycling process can be simplified. Since recycled materials can be allocated to plants capable of processing the material composition of the recycled materials, allocating recycled materials to specific plants specialized or capable of processing recycled materials based on material data reduces the operational burden of the plants. By combining the provided recycled material identifier data and plant identifier data, plant allocation data can be provided to indicate which location or which specific plant or plants can ensure effective processing of the recycled materials. Thus, it is possible to efficiently allocate recycled materials to plants to produce recycled materials or recyclates and to produce new products from such recycled materials or recyclates. Through tracking material packets via identity-based data footprints in a decentralized platform, it is easier to allocate specific recycled materials or recyclate streams that are matched to specific plants, resulting in more control over the output products produced based on the recyclates. Additionally, recycling or production processes can be tailored to specific compositions depending on purity or quality. By tracking and allocating recycled materials, the quality of output products based on recycled materials can be improved.

[0020] It is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient, sustainable and robust method for allocating recycled materials to plants specialized or suitable for processing recycled materials based on material data. These and other objects will become apparent with reference to the following description and are solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims refer to preferred embodiments of the invention.

[0021] A product may refer to any final product that contains recycled materials. The at least one component of a product that is recycled may include a single component or multiple components of a single product type or multiple product types. The at least one product or product component that is recycled may include multiple products or product components. The at least one component of a product may include any component, any combination of components, or one or more products having one or more or all of the components.

[0022] Recycling of materials contained in a product may include materials from any recycling step from the end of the product's life to any recyclates that can be used to produce new products. The new products produced from the recyclates may be a different product type than the final product being recycled. In other words, the new products produced from the recycled materials may be different products than the recycled materials or the recycled products from which the recyclates are produced. The recycling steps may include recovery, dismantling, sorting, mechanical processing, chemical processing, heat treatment or any other steps to convert used materials into recycled materials. Recycling of materials contained in a product may include recycling of one or more components of the product. Recycling of materials contained in a product may include one or more recycling processes to convert used materials into recycled materials. The recycled materials may be used to produce new materials. The new materials may be used to produce the final product.

[0023] Recycled materials may refer to any material that is generated at any process stage in the recycling of a product. Recycled materials may include any component of a product that is recycled in any form. For example, recycled materials may include a collection of components that are further processed in the recycling process. Recycled materials may come from any component of a product that is recycled.

[0024] The plant may include any plant processing products, product components, or product materials. Such processing may include recycling or production. The plant may perform one or more process steps, such as collection, dismantling, sorting, mechanical processing, chemical processing, thermal processing, production of products, production of product components, production of materials, or any other steps for converting used materials of used products into recycled materials or new products. The recycling instructions may include collection, sorting, transportation, storage, or other process instructions, or any combination thereof, related to the recycling process. Such recycling instructions may be provided to one or more systems configured to monitor and / or control the process steps, such as collection, sorting, transportation, storage, or other process instructions, or any combination thereof.

[0025] The material identifier package may include any data structure that associates product identifiers according to at least one material composition that can be processed or is processed by at least one plant or recycling plant. The material identifier package may include one or more product identifiers associated with at least one material composition that can be processed or is processed by at least one recycling plant. The material identifier package may include a collection of product identifiers associated with at least one or more products or at least one or more components of a product to be recycled and at least one material composition that can be processed or is processed by at least one recycling plant. The material identifier package may include any data for recovering, sorting, transporting, storing, processing or providing the product or component for a subsequent recycling step. The material identifier package may include product or component identifiers and corresponding material composition data associated with a material composition that can be processed or is processed by at least one recycling plant. The material identifier package may include recycling classification data or instructions for the product or component. The material identifier package may further include operational data indicating process requirements for the material composition and / or location data of the product or component. In other words, the material identifier package may include data that may effect the selection or allocation of products or components to be recycled to at least one respective recycling plant.

[0026] The product identifier may include any identifier uniquely associated with the product to be recycled or at least one component of the product to be recycled. The product identifier may include one identifier associated with the product and / or at least one component of the product. The product identifier may include two or more identifiers associated with the product and / or at least one component of the product. The product identifier may include or be associated with any unique identifier uniquely associated with the data owner and material composition data associated with the product to be recycled or at least one component of the product. The product identifier may include or be associated with one or more non-central identifiers. The non-central identifiers may include one or more universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) or digital identifiers (DIDs). The non-central identifiers may be issued by a central or non-central identity issuer. Through the non-central identifiers and their unique association with the data owner and / or material composition data, access to the material composition data may be controlled by the data owner. The data owner for the material composition data may be a material producer, a component producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more components, and / or a product producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more products. The data owner for the material identifier package and / or recycled material data may be one or more recycling systems and / or one or more plants, such as a recycler that uses end-of-life batteries to produce recycled materials, a recycler that uses black mass to produce recyclates, a material producer, a component producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more components, and / or a product producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more products.The data owner for the plant data, plant allocation data and / or operation data may be one or more recycling systems and / or one or more plants, such as a recycler that uses end-of-life batteries to produce recycled materials, a recycler that uses black mass to produce recyclates, a material producer, a component producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more components and / or a product producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more products. This is in contrast to a central authority scheme, where identifiers are provided by a central authority and access to the data is controlled by such central authority. In this context, non-centralized refers to the use of identifiers controlled by the data owner. The non-centralized identifiers may be connected to a digital representation of material configuration data, plant data, material data, recycled material data, operation data, plant allocation data, or a combination or part thereof, or any other data package disclosed herein. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing material configuration data, plant data, material data, recycled material data, operation data, plant allocation data, or a combination or part thereof, or any other data package disclosed herein. The non-central identifier may be connected to authentication and / or authorization information. The non-central identifier may be connected to further product or component data.

[0027] A product identifier element may include any physical mechanism that associates a product identifier with a product or at least one component of a product. A product identifier element may include passive or active elements, such as, but not limited to, a QR code, an RFID tag. A product identifier element may be a physical identifier that is physically connected to a product or at least one component of a product. An identifier element may include a marker embedded in a material, a tag such as a barcode, a QR code, an RFID tag, or a similar physical mechanism that allows for digitally identifying a product or at least one component of a product.

[0028] The material composition data may include the material composition of the product or product component. The material composition data may be associated with at least one material type, at least one material property, and / or at least one chemical composition associated with at least one component of the battery to be recycled. The material composition data may include the material type, material property, and / or chemical composition of the material used to produce the product or product component. The material type, material property, and / or chemical composition may specify, at least in part, the material composition. The material type may include, but is not limited to, material specifications such as plastics, composites, metal-containing materials, etc., as present in the final product, intermediate product, by-product, or raw material. The material properties may include, but are not limited to, physical material properties, such as thermodynamic, mechanical, electrodynamic, optical, and acoustic material properties, and chemical material properties, such as standard electrode potential and electronegativity. The chemical composition may correspond to at least one component included in the composition. For example, the chemical composition may be specified by the absolute or relative amounts of one or more elements, compounds, or components included in the material.

[0029] The material composition data may include the material composition of the product or product component. The material composition data may be associated with at least one material type, at least one material property, and / or at least one chemical composition associated with at least one component of the product to be recycled. The material composition data may include the material type, material property, and / or chemical composition of the material used to produce the product or component of the product. The material type, material property, and / or chemical composition may specify, at least in part, the material composition. The material type may include, but is not limited to, material specifications such as plastics, composites, metal-containing materials, etc., as present in the final product, intermediate product, by-product, or raw material. The material properties may include, but are not limited to, physical material properties, such as thermodynamic, mechanical, electrodynamic, optical, and acoustic material properties, and chemical material properties, such as standard electrode potential and electronegativity. The chemical composition may correspond to at least one component included in the composition. For example, the chemical composition may be specified by the absolute or relative amounts of one or more elements, compounds, or components included in the material.

[0030] The material composition data may be associated with the material composition of one or more components of the product. The material composition data may specify the material composition on a component basis. For example, the material composition data may specify, at least in part, the chemical composition of one or more components of the product. The product identifier may be associated with any component of the product. The product identifier may be connected to or associated with one or more identifiers for materials used to produce the product or at least one component of the product.

[0031] The plant allocation data may include any data structure that associates at least one recycled material identifier with at least one plant identifier. The plant allocation data may include one or more recycled material identifiers associated with at least one material composition that can be or is processed by the at least one plant. The plant allocation data may further include recycled material data, operational data, and / or location data. In other words, the plant allocation data may include data that may effect a selection or allocation of recycled battery materials to at least one respective recycling plant.

[0032] The recycled material identifier may include any identifier uniquely associated with the recycled material. The recycled material identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with the data owner and recycled material data associated with the recycled material. The recycled material data may include a product or component identifier associated with at least one material configuration that can be or is processed by at least one recycling plant. Such an identifier may be associated with a package that collects the product or component identifier or may be associated with a packaging identifier. The recycled material data may include a recycled material composition that can be determined from a material configuration associated with the product or component identifier. The recycled material identifier may include or be associated with one or more non-central identifiers. The non-central identifiers may include one or more universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) or digital identifiers (DIDs). The non-central identifiers may be issued by a central or non-central identity issuer. Through the non-central identifiers and the unique association of the data owner with the recycled material data, access to the recycled material data may be controlled by the data owner. The data owner for the recycled material data may be one or more recycling systems or one or more plants, such as a recycler that uses end-of-life batteries to produce recycled material, a recycler that uses black mass to produce recyclates, a material producer, a component producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more components, and / or a product producer that uses materials produced by the material producer to produce one or more products. This is in contrast to a central authority scheme, where identifiers are provided by a central authority and access to the data is controlled by such central authority. In this context, non-centralized refers to the use of identifiers controlled by the data owner. The non-centralized identifiers may be connected to a digital representation of the recycled material data. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the recycled material data or a portion thereof. The non-centralized identifiers may be connected to authentication information and / or authorization information. The non-centralized identifiers may be connected to further product data.

[0033] The recycled material data may relate to at least one product type, at least one material type, at least one material configuration, at least one material property, and / or at least one chemical composition associated with at least one or more components of the product being recycled to provide the recycled material. Thereby, the allocation of recycled material may be tailored to a particular material configuration, product type, material type, material property, and / or chemical composition to provide the most efficient processing of the recycled material by the at least one plant. The product type may relate to the product configuration, product manufacturer, product application, etc. The material type may include, but is not limited to, material specifications such as plastics, composites, metal-containing materials, etc., as present in the final product, intermediate product, by-product, and raw material. The material properties may include, but are not limited to, physical material properties, such as thermodynamic, mechanical, electrodynamic, optical, and acoustic material properties, and chemical material properties, such as standard electrode potential and electronegativity. The chemical composition may correspond to at least one component included in the composition. For example, the chemical composition may be specified by the absolute or relative amounts of one or more elements or compounds included in the material.

[0034] In one embodiment, the recycled material comprises material provided by recycling a product or a component of a product. In the recycling process, the product or component may be packaged by providing a material identifier package according to the material composition of the product or component. The recycled material may be provided by mechanical, thermal and / or chemical recycling plants.

[0035] In another embodiment, the recycled material identifier is associated with one or more material identifier packages that associate the product identifier according to at least one material composition that can be processed or is processed by at least one recycling plant. In another embodiment, the recycled material identifier is associated with one or more product identifiers and corresponding material composition data of a product that is recycled to provide a recycled material. In another embodiment, the recycled material identifier is associated with a material identifier package and corresponding material composition data associated with the recycled material. At least one material identifier package may include one or more product identifiers and corresponding material composition data associated with at least one component of the product that is recycled. At least one material identifier package may include material composition data associated with recycled materials produced from at least one recycled component of the product, and the material composition data may be identified from the product identifiers and their corresponding material composition data. For example, the material identifier package may include at least one packaging identifier and corresponding material composition data associated with recycled materials produced from at least one recycled component of the product. The material composition data may be identified from packaged product identifiers and their corresponding material composition data. Further, for example, a material identifier package may include one or more product identifiers and material composition data determined from their corresponding material composition data. By incorporating a product identifier and corresponding material composition data of at least one component of a product being recycled to provide data designating the recycled material, the recycled material may be tracked throughout the recycling process. Moreover, the composition of the recycled material may be more reliably controlled throughout the recycling process.

[0036] The material composition data may be associated with the material composition of one or more components of the product. The material composition data may specify the material composition on a component basis. For example, the material composition data may specify, at least in part, the chemical composition of one or more components of the product. The product identifier may be associated with any component of the product. The product identifier may be connected to or associated with one or more identifiers for materials used to produce the product or at least one component of the product.

[0037] In one embodiment, the material composition data is provided for access when providing materials for the production of the product, when providing materials for at least one component of the product, and / or when producing the material used to produce the product or at least one component of the product. The material composition data may be accessed when recycling the product or component containing the material. The product identifier may be associated with the product to be recycled or at least one component of the product to be recycled. The relationship between the product identifier and the product, component, or material may be provided before or during the production of the product. The product identifier may be associated with one or more non-central identifiers, at least one non-central identifier being associated with the material used to produce the product or at least one component of the product. The product identifier may be associated with a relationship representation. The relationship representation may relate the product identifier to an identifier of the material used to produce the product or at least one component of the product. The relationship representation may reflect the physical connection between the material and the product, in other words the use of the material to produce the product. In this way, the product identifier and the identifier associated with the material used to produce the product or at least one component of the product may be connected or associated. Upon receipt of the product identifier, identifiers associated with materials used to produce the product or at least one component of the product may be identified. Material composition data may be obtained based on identifiers associated with materials used to produce the product or at least one component of the product, particularly from a material producer.

[0038] The product identifier may be uniquely associated with a data owner and / or material composition data associated with the material, product or at least one component of a product used to produce the product or component, for example, provided prior to or during production of the material, product or at least one component of a product. The material composition data may specify the material composition of the material used to produce the product or at least one component of a product. Prior to or during production of the material, the product or at least one component of a product may include any time leading up to the production of the material, product or at least one component of a product. Prior to or during production of the material, the product or at least one component of a product may include at the time of production of the material, the time of providing the material to produce the product or at least one component of a product, or at the time of production of the product or at least one component of a product.

[0039] The material composition data may be provided for access when providing materials for the production of a product. The material composition data may be accessed during recycling of a product or at least one component of a product containing the material. The material composition data may be accessed via a digital representation, such as a pointer, link or link pointing to the material composition data. The material composition data may be accessed during recycling, for example, by reading a product identifier, identifying an identifier associated with the material via the product identifier, for example through a relational representation, and collecting at least a digital representation associated with the identifier associated with the material. The material composition data may be accessed via a digital representation linked to an identifier associated with a material used to produce the product or a component of the product. The material composition data associated with a material used to produce the product or a component of the product may be accessed or requested from a non-central computing node associated with the recycling system. The material composition data associated with a material used to produce the product or a component of the product may be provided or obtained from a non-central computing node associated with a producer that produces or uses the material, such as a material producer, a product producer and / or a component producer. Access to the material composition data may be based on a non-central identifier of the material used to produce the product or a component of the product. The material composition data may be provided or transferred by at least one non-central computing node associated with a producer that produces or uses the material, such as a material producer, a product producer, and / or a component producer. The material composition data may be provided to or received by a non-central computing node associated with the recycling system.

[0040] In one embodiment, the material composition data relates to a chemical composition of a product or at least one component of the product. The material composition data may specify at least one component of the chemical composition of the product or component, such as a transition metal-containing component, a precious metal-containing component, or a plastic. The at least one product identifier may be associated with a component of the product for which the material composition data specifies a material composition. The at least one product identifier may be associated with a first component of the product including a second component for which the material composition data specifies a material composition. The at least one product identifier may be associated with the product or at least one component of the product, and an identifier associated with a material used to produce the product or at least one component of the product may be associated with the at least one product identifier.

[0041] In one embodiment, the material composition data or recycled material data is provided by computer executable instructions executed at least partially in a decentralized or non-centralized computing environment, the computer executable instructions accessing the material composition data based on a product identifier or accessing the recycled material data based on a packaged product identifier or package identifier. The material composition data may be provided at the end of service of the product or at least one component of the product. The recycled material data may be provided at any stage of the recycling process of the product or at least one component of the product. With identity-based access, the non-centralized data service may be used for flexible and secure access to material data, such as recycled material data or material composition data, controlled by the data owner. In such an embodiment, the material composition data or recycled material data may be provided by a storage environment under the control of a material data provider, such as a material producer or a recycling system. Such a storage environment may be accessible by the computer executable instructions based on an authentication and / or authorization process or protocol. The computer executable instructions accessing the material composition data based on the product identifier may initiate data transfer or may initiate data processing and subsequently transfer of the processing results. Processing may include, for example, identifying the material identifier package. The computer executable instructions for accessing recycled material data based on a packaged product identifier or a package identifier may initiate the data transfer. The material data provider may be a provider of physical materials or an owner of material data. For access to material composition data, the material data provider may be a material producer. The material composition data may be provided by a computing node of the non-central computing environment, the computing node may be associated with the material producer. For access to recycled material data, the material data provider may be one or more recycling systems. The recycled material data may be provided by a computing node of the non-central computing environment, the computing node may be associated with one or more recycling systems.The materials data provider may be a physical materials provider or a third party that controls the materials data on behalf of the materials data owner. This allows the materials data owner to control the use of the materials composition data. In addition, it may enable secure data sharing or exchange across participants in the recycling or production chain.

[0042] In one embodiment, at least one material identifier package includes one or more product identifiers and corresponding material composition data associated with the product to be recycled or at least one component of the product. In one embodiment, at least one material identifier package includes material composition data associated with the product or recycled materials produced from at least one recycled component of the product, the material composition data being identified from the product identifier and their corresponding material composition data. For example, the material identifier package may include at least one packaging identifier and corresponding material composition data associated with the product or recycled materials produced from at least one recycled component of the product. The material composition data may be identified from the product identifier package and their corresponding material composition data. Further, for example, the material identifier package may include one or more product or component identifiers and material composition data being identified from their corresponding material composition data. The recycled material data may include at least one packaging identifier and corresponding material composition data associated with the product or recycled materials produced from at least one recycled component of the product. In one embodiment, at least one material identifier package includes material quantity data associated with recycled materials produced from a product or at least one recycled component of a product, the material quantity data being identified from the product identifiers and their corresponding material composition data. The material quantity data may include the number, mass, weight, or volume of the products, components, or materials being recycled.

[0043] At least one material identifier package may be associated with at least one material configuration that is processable or processed by at least one plant, such as a recycling or production plant. In association with at least one material configuration that is processable or processed by at least one plant, the plant may perform at least one process, such as a recycling or production process, on one or more material configurations. The at least one process may be predefined, such as a predefined recycling or production process. At least one material configuration that is processable or processed by at least one plant may include material configurations that are processable or processed by at least one plant in one or the same process run. At least one material configuration that is processable or processed by at least one plant may include material configurations that are processable or processed by the same plant or plant type. At least one material configuration that is processable or processed by at least one plant may include material configurations that are processable or processed together. At least one material configuration that is processable or processed by at least one plant may include material configurations that are processable or processed together in one plant. The at least one material configuration that is processable or processed by the at least one plant may include material configurations that are processable or processed together in one or the same process run. The at least one material configuration that is processable or processed by the at least one plant may include material configurations that are allocable to one plant or process.

[0044] In one embodiment, identifying the at least one material identifier package includes providing classification instructions executed at least in part in the non-central computing environment, the classification instructions collecting product identifiers according to material configurations processable or to be processed by the at least one plant.

[0045] In one embodiment, identifying the at least one material identifier package includes sorting according to sorting instructions that provide material configurations that can be or will be processed by the at least one plant. The sorting can be performed according to sorting instructions that associate the material configurations that can be or will be processed by the at least one plant with at least one product identifier.

[0046] In one embodiment, identifying the at least one material identifier package includes providing a sorting instruction executed at least partially in a non-centralized or decentralized computing environment, the sorting instruction collecting product identifiers according to material compositions that can be processed or are processed by at least one plant, such as one recycling plant. The sorting instruction may include collecting product identifiers based on material composition data and material compositions that can be processed or are processed by the at least one plant. The sorting instruction may include classes of material compositions that can be processed or are processed by the at least one plant and collecting product identifiers according to the classes of material compositions. The sorting instruction may initiate matching of material compositions provided by the material composition data with material compositions that can be processed or are processed by the at least one plant. The sorting instruction may associate the material composition data with plant identifiers and corresponding material compositions that can be processed or are processed by the plant. The sorting instruction may be dynamically adjustable based on operational data, in particular process data indicative of a current operation of the at least one plant.

[0047] With identity-based classification, the classification service can be used for flexible and secure classification. In such an embodiment, the material composition data can be provided by a storage environment under the control of the material data provider. Such a storage environment can be accessible by the classification instruction based on an authentication and / or authorization process or protocol. The classification instruction accessing the material composition data based on the product identifier can initiate classification and then transfer of the classification results. The classification instruction can be triggered by one or more recycling systems when recycling the product or at the end-of-life stage of the product. The classification instruction can access the material composition data via a product identifier provided by the material producer. The classification instruction can transfer the classification results to one or more recycling systems. The material composition data provider can be a provider or producer of the physical material or a third party that controls the material composition data on behalf of the material composition data owner. This allows the owner of the material composition data to control the use of the material composition data while not sharing such data with the recycling system. In addition, it can enable secure data sharing or exchange across participants in the recycling or production chain.

[0048] In one embodiment, the at least one product identifier is provided from a sensor that reads a product or component identifier element, which is physically connected to the product or at least one component of the product to be recycled. The identification element may be physically connected to the product, e.g., the product housing, to uniquely identify the product. The identification element may be physically connected to any component of the product, e.g., the product module, to uniquely identify a component of the product.

[0049] Further included may be a step of operating the recycling process by providing a material identifier package for controlling and / or monitoring the recycling system. The identifier package may include a package identifier, such as a non-central identifier. The identifier package may be provided to a non-central computing node associated with one or more recycling systems. The identifier package may be generated by a non-central computing node associated with one or more recycling systems. The non-central computing node associated with one or more recycling systems may control and / or monitor the one or more recycling systems. Operating based on the at least one material identifier package may include operating a product recycling process for recycling of materials contained in a product associated with the at least one product identifier. Operating based on the at least one material identifier package may include operating the recycling process by providing collection, sorting, transport, storage and / or recycling instructions configured to monitor and / or control the recycling system. Operating based on the at least one material identifier package may include operating the recycling process by providing collection, sorting, transport, storage and / or recycling instructions configured to monitor and / or control the collection, sorting, transport, storage and / or recycling or respective systems. Operating based on the at least one material identifier package may include operating a recycling process by collecting, sorting, transporting, storing and / or recycling materials contained in products associated with the at least one product identifier. Also included may be the step of operating the recycling process, preferably by collecting the product identifiers and providing the material identifier package to a recycling system to control and / or monitor such system. A product recycling process for recycling materials contained in products associated with the at least one product identifier may be operated based on the at least one material identifier package.The product recycling process may be operated by providing a material identifier package for controlling and / or monitoring the recycling system. The product recycling process may be operated by providing collection, sorting, transport, storage and / or recycling instructions configured to monitor and / or control the collection, sorting, transport, storage and / or recycling. The product recycling process may be operated by collecting, sorting, transporting, storing and / or recycling materials contained in a product associated with at least one product identifier. The recycling system may include a sorting, collection, transport and / or storage system. The system may be controlled and / or monitored based on the material identifier package. Further included may be a step of sorting, collecting, transporting and / or storing the recycled materials based on the material identifier package, preferably based on sorting, collecting, transporting and / or storing instructions based on the material identifier package. The sorting, collection, transport and / or storage system may be monitored and / or controlled and / or operated based on the material identifier package, preferably based on respective instructions generated from the material identifier package. In the recycling process, a product or component may be packaged by providing a material identifier package according to the material composition of the product or component. The recycled materials may be provided by mechanical, thermal and / or chemical recycling plants.

[0050] In one embodiment, identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material provided by the recycled material data and providing plant allocation data including the at least one plant identifier and the associated recycled material identifier may include identifying the plant allocation data by associating the at least one plant identifier associated with the plant for processing the recycled material via the provided recycled material data to the one or more recycled material identifiers.

[0051] In another embodiment, the method further includes providing operational data associated with at least one operating characteristic of the one or more plants. The operational data may be associated with at least one plant identifier. The operational data may include plant location data associated with a plant location of the plant, capacity data associated with a capacity of the plant, process data associated with one or more processes of the plant, and / or material processing data associated with at least one material configuration that can be processed or is processed by at least one plant, such as the same plant or the same plant type. The operational data may be associated with at least one static operating characteristic of the plant and / or at least one dynamic operating characteristic of the same plant or plant type. The latter allows real-time insight into capacity, process data, and / or material data. The plants can be aligned based on real-time information enabling more efficient and targeted use of plant resources in the recycling process.

[0052] In one embodiment, the operational data may be provided by a non-central computing node associated with one or more plants. The operational data may be provided for access or accessed by a non-central computing node associated with a classification instruction associating one or more recycling systems or one or more plants with recycled material data and / or recycled material identifiers. The operational data may be accessed, as needed, by a non-central computing node associated with a classification instruction associating one or more recycling systems or one or more plants with recycled material data and / or recycled material identifiers. The operational data may include classification instructions associating one or more plants with recycled material data and / or recycled material identifiers. The operational data may be associated with one or more plant identifiers. The plant identifiers may be associated with one or more non-central identifiers. The plant identifiers may be associated with a digital representation, such as a pointer, link, or link pointing to the operational data. The operational data of the plant may be accessed via a digital representation linked to an identifier associated with the plant. The access may include authentication and / or authorization protocols provided by the non-central computing environment.

[0053] In another embodiment, the at least one plant identifier is identified by selecting, based on the operational data, a material identifier package for a plant identifier or product identifier associated with a plant suitable for processing a recycled material corresponding to the recycled material identifier data and corresponding material composition data associated with a material recycled from the product. Identifying the at least one plant identifier may include providing material processing data associated with one or more material compositions processable or processed by the at least one plant. Additionally or alternatively, identifying the at least one plant identifier may include providing process data associated with one or more processes of the at least one plant. The at least one plant identifier may be identified based on the material processing data and / or the process data. In this manner, materials and / or processes of the plant may be taken into account. The material processing data and / or the process data may be provided separately or as part of the operational data by a non-central computing node associated with the one or more plants.

[0054] In another embodiment, identifying the at least one plant identifier includes sorting by sorting instructions that provide material processing data associated with one or more material compositions that can be processed or processed by the at least one plant. In one embodiment, identifying the at least one plant identifier includes providing sorting instructions that are executed at least partially in a non-central computing environment, the sorting instructions collecting recycled material identifiers that associate the one or more plants with recycled material data, such as recycled material compositions, and respective plant identifiers. In one embodiment, identifying the at least one plant identifier includes providing sorting instructions that are executed at least partially in a non-central or non-central computing environment, the sorting instructions collecting recycled material identifiers according to material compositions that can be processed or processed by the at least one plant, such as the at least one recycling and / or production plant. The sorting instructions may include collecting recycled material identifiers based on the recycled material data and the operational data. The sorting instructions may include classes of material compositions that can be processed or processed by the at least one plant and collecting recycled material identifiers according to the classes of material compositions. The sorting instructions may initiate a matching of material compositions provided by the recycled material data with material compositions that can be processed or processed by the at least one plant. The sorting instructions may associate the recycled material data with a plant identifier and a corresponding material composition that can be or is processed by the at least one plant. The sorting instructions may be dynamically adjustable based on operational data, particularly process data indicative of the current operation of the at least one plant.

[0055] With identity-based classification, the classification service can be used for flexible and secure classification. In such an embodiment, the recycled material data can be provided by a storage environment under the control of at least one recycled material data provider. Such a storage environment can be accessible by the classification instruction based on an authentication and / or authorization process or protocol. The classification instruction accessing the recycled material data based on a recycled material or product identifier can initiate the classification and then the transfer of the classification results. The classification instruction can be triggered by one or more recycling systems at any stage of the recycling process following the generation of the material identifier package. The classification instruction can access the recycled material data via a recycled material identifier provided by one or more recycling systems and / or a product identifier provided by a material producer. The classification instruction can transfer the classification results to one or more recycling systems, such as a sorting, collection, transport or storage system, and / or one or more plants, such as a recycling and / or production plant.

[0056] Identifying the at least one plant identifier and / or plant allocation data includes classification according to classification instructions that provide recycled material compositions. Classification may be performed according to classification instructions that associate recycled material compositions that are processable or processed by the at least one plant with at least one plant identifier. The classification instructions may provide material processing data associated with one or more material compositions that are processable or processed by the at least one plant. Identifying the at least one plant identifier may include classification by associating recycled materials associated with recycled material identifiers or material identifier packages with material processing data associated with one or more material compositions that are processable or processed by the at least one plant. The classification instructions may assign at least one plant identifier according to the material processing data. By classification, different types of recycled materials can be assigned and processed by appropriate plants or processes. Since some material compositions of recycled materials can be processed or processed in the same process, classification based on the classification method may provide a coordinated and easy way to assign recycled materials to plants. Thus, different types of recycled materials that are processable or processed by the same process can be classified into the same class so that the diversity of recycled material types can be reduced. This allows for improved plant utilization.

[0057] In another embodiment, identifying the at least one plant identifier may include matching the at least one recycled material identifier with the at least one plant identifier based on quantity data related to the amount of recycled material and plant capacity data related to the capacity of the at least one plant. The plant capacity may be static or dynamic. Thereby, the load of the plants may be managed based on their plant capacity. In another embodiment, identifying the at least one plant identifier may include matching the at least one recycled material identifier with the at least one plant identifier based on process data associated with one or more recycling processes and / or material processing data associated with at least one material composition that can be or is processed by the at least one plant. Thereby, the recycled material may be assigned to a plant having plant process details that match, for example, the composition of the recycled material.

[0058] In another embodiment, the recycled material data is provided by computer executable instructions executed at least partially in a non-centralized or decentralized computing environment, the computer executable instructions accessing recycled material data of recycled materials based on a material identifier. The recycled material data may be provided at any stage of the recycling process of the product or at least one component of the product, preferably after generation of a material identifier package. With identity-based access, non-centralized data services may be used for flexible and secure access to recycled material data controlled by the data owner. In such an embodiment, the recycled material data may be provided by a storage environment under the control of a material data provider, such as a recycling system and / or a plant. Such a storage environment may be accessible by the computer executable instructions based on an authentication and / or authorization process or protocol. The computer executable instructions accessing the recycled material data based on a packaged product identifier or package identifier or product identifier may initiate data transfer and / or data processing and subsequently transfer of the processing results. Processing may include, for example, identifying a plant identifier. The material data provider may be a provider of recycled materials or an owner of recycled material data. For recycled material data, the material data provider may be one or more recycling systems. The recycled material data may be provided by a computing node of a decentralized computing environment, which may be associated with one or more recycling systems. The material data provider may be a physical material provider or a third party that controls the recycled material data on behalf of the material data owner. This allows the owner of the recycled material data to control the use of the recycled material data. In addition, it may enable secure data sharing or exchange across participants in the recycling or production chain.

[0059] Further included may be the step of operating the recycling process, preferably by assigning plant identifiers to the recycled material identifiers and providing the respective recycled material identifiers to a plant operation system to control and / or monitor plant operation. The plants may be controlled and / or monitored based on the plant allocation data. Operating the recycling process may include operating the recycling process by providing allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring plants, such as production and / or recycling plants. The allocation data may include plant identifiers, such as non-central identifiers associated with one or more plants. The plant allocation data may be provided to a non-central computing node associated with one or more plants. The allocation data may be generated by a non-central computing node associated with one or more plants, such as production and / or recycling plants, and / or recycling systems, such as sorting, recovery, transport and / or storage systems. The recycled material identifiers and / or corresponding recycled material data may be provided by a non-central computing node associated with one or more recycling systems and / or one or more plants, such as production and / or recycling plants. A non-central computing node associated with one or more plants, such as production and / or recycling plants, may control and / or monitor the one or more plants, such as production and / or recycling plants. In particular, the supply of the plant may be monitored and / or controlled with respect to recycled material supplied to the plant. In particular, the supply of recycled material may be monitored and / or controlled. The composition of the supply may be provided via the plant allocation data and associated recycled material data. In this manner, plant operations may be monitored and / or controlled based on the plant allocation data.

[0060] Also included is the step of transporting and / or storing the recycled material based on the plant allocation data, preferably based on transport and / or storage instructions generated from the plant allocation data. The transport and / or storage system may be operated based on the plant allocation data, preferably based on transport and / or storage instructions generated from the plant allocation data.

[0061] In another embodiment, the method further includes providing transport and / or storage instructions based on the plant assignment data. Disclosed are also methods and corresponding apparatus for providing transport and / or storage instructions based on the plant assignment data. Any method steps disclosed with respect to such methods may be performed by a corresponding apparatus including one or more computing nodes and one or more computer readable media having computer executable instructions configured for execution by the one or more computing nodes. To generate and / or provide such instructions, the individual steps may be performed in combination with a method, system, apparatus, or computer element for providing a material identifier package or operating a recycling process.

[0062] Further included may be the step of providing material location data associated with the recycled material based on the recycled material identifier and providing plant location data based on the plant identifier. Further included may be the step of identifying transport instructions based on the collection point data and the plant location data. One or more transport routes may be identified from such data. The material location data may represent a starting point for the transport and the plant location data may represent a destination point of the transport route. The plant location data may be included in the plant allocation data. Further included may be the step of identifying storage instructions based on the operational data, in particular the capacity data and quantities relating to the amount of recycled material from products or components having a material configuration that can be or are processed together by the same plant, the same plant type, or the same process, etc.

[0063] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0064] [Figure 1] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a battery having a battery identification element as an end-of-life product. [Diagram 2] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a battery component having an identification element as an end-of-life product. [Figure 3a] 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of centralized and non-centralized computing environments having computing nodes. [Figure 3b] 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of centralized and non-centralized computing environments having computing nodes. [Figure 3c] 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a distributed computing environment. [Figure 3d] 1 illustrates an exemplary environment for making data accessible for processing. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method for providing a material identifier package for recycling materials contained in a product, particularly usable for operating a recycling process. [Diagram 5] 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for providing a material identifier package that can be used specifically to operate a recycling process for recycling materials contained in a product. [Figure 6] 1 illustrates an exemplary data structure based on a non-central identifier for a product. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates another exemplary data structure based on a non-central identifier for a product or component package. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for processing recycled materials, and in particular for providing plant allocation data usable for operating a recycling process. [Figure 9]1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for processing recycled materials, and in particular for providing plant allocation data usable for operating a recycling process. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for allocating plants to operate a recycling process. [Figure 11] 1 illustrates an exemplary data structure based on a non-central identifier for a material package or recycled material package associated with a plant identifier. [Figure 12] 1 illustrates an exemplary data structure based on a non-central identifier for a material package or recycled material package associated with a plant identifier. [Figure 13] 1 illustrates an exemplary data structure based on a non-central identifier for a material package or recycled material package associated with a plant identifier. [Figure 14] 1 illustrates an exemplary system for operating a recycling process in a recycling chain of end-of-life products. [Figure 15] An example of a recycling chain for end-of-life products is shown below. [Figure 16] 1 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of a method for providing recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of an end-of-life product. [Figure 17] Another example of a method for providing recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of a product based on availability data, optionally including selection of a production plant, is provided. [Figure 18] Another example of a method for providing a recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of a product is provided, including a chemical performance check. [Figure 19] Another example of a method for providing recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of a product is provided, including an emission target check and optional plant selection. [Figure 20]13 illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for inputting recycling quotas, chemical performance parameters, or emission targets. [Figure 21] 13 illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for inputting recycling quotas, chemical performance parameters, or emission targets. [Figure 22] 13 illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for inputting recycling quotas, chemical performance parameters, or emission targets. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0065] Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The following embodiments are merely examples for implementing the methods, systems or computer elements disclosed herein and should not be considered as limiting.

[0066] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a battery 10 having battery identification elements 12, 14. This is an arbitrary example of a post-service product. Any plastic packaging, electronic device, or other post-service product may be equally used, and the mere description of the battery example does not limit the scope of the fundamental concepts described herein.

[0067] The battery 10 may include a battery management system 16 and multiple battery cells 18 disposed inside a battery housing 20. The battery cells 18 may be arranged in a battery pack or module that includes multiple battery cells 18. The battery cells 10 may include an electrolyte 22, an anode element 24, a cathode element 26, and / or a separator 28.

[0068] Depending on the application, the battery includes different material compositions for different components. For example, the battery can be a lithium-ion battery. The cathode element 26 can include an active material coated on a current collector foil, such as an aluminum or copper foil. An additional binder, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and / or carbon as a conductive agent can be included. The cathode active material can include layered oxides (LiMO2 with M=Co, Ni, Mn, Al, e.g., LCO(LiCoO2), NCM(LiNixMnyCozO2), NCA(LiNixCoyAlzO2)), spinels (LiM2O4 with M=Mn, Ni, e.g., LMO(LiMnO4)) or phosphates (LiMPO4 with M=Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, e.g., LiFePO4).

[0069] The anode element 24 may include an anode active material coated on a current collector foil, such as an aluminum or copper foil. The active material may include synthetic graphite, natural graphite, or a composition thereof. The active material may include silicon, SiO2, lithium titanate (LTO), or a combination thereof. The active material may include a binder, such as styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), a polymeric thickener, such as carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and a carbonate as a conductive agent.

[0070] The electrolyte may include additives such as salts, solvents, and carbonates, esters, or ethers to provide electrical conductivity. A mixture of cyclic carbonates such as ethylene carbonate (EC) or propylene carbonate (PC) and open-chain carbonates such as dimethyl carbonate (DMC) may be included. As conductive salts, lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), lithium bis(trifluoromethyl)sulfonylimide (LiTFSI) and its derivatives (e.g., lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI)) or lithium [tris(pentafluoroethyl)-trifluorophosphate] (LiFAP), lithium 4,5-dicyano-2-trifluoromethyl-imidazolide (LiTDI), lithium bis(oxalato)borate (LiBOB), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) and / or diethyl carbonate (DEC) may be used.

[0071] The separator may divide the space between the electrodes and is permeable to ions. Types of separators include: microporous membranes, ceramic coated separators, non-woven mats, solid inorganic or polymer electrolytes. For example, polyolefin-based membranes coated with PVDF or ceramic may be used.

[0072] The battery identification elements 12, 14 may be physically associated with the battery 10. The identification elements 12, 14 may be physically attached to the battery housing or may be part of the battery management system 16. The identification elements 12, 14 may be located inside or outside the battery housing 20. The identification elements 12, 14 may be passive identification elements 14. The passive elements 14 may be located on the exterior surface of the battery housing 20. The passive elements 14 may be based on markers embedded in a material. The passive elements 14 may include printed codes such as bar codes or QR codes. The identification elements 12, 14 may be active identification elements 14. The active elements 14 may be transmitter or transceiver tags such as, for example, RFID tags that enable communication via NFC, Bluetooth, Zigbee or other suitable near-medium range communication protocols. The identification element 14 may be part of the battery management system 16, for example a digital product identifier may be stored in the battery management system 16 and retrieved from the battery management system via a communication protocol such as NFC, Bluetooth, Zigbee or other suitable short to medium range communication protocol.

[0073] The battery identification elements 12, 14 may be associated with a digital battery identifier or a digital product identifier. The digital product identifier may be unique to the battery. The digital product identifier may further be associated with data regarding the identified battery. Such data may include any data collected during the manufacturing or life of the battery 10. For example, such data may include material data, such as material composition data, collected during the production of the battery, or monitoring data collected during the use of the battery may be associated with the digital battery identifier. The data regarding the identified battery or a portion thereof may relate to or include the material composition data. The material composition data may be controlled by one or more material producers, for example, via authentication and / or authorization mechanisms. The material composition data may be controlled by one or more material producers. One or more material producers may provide their respective material composition data for access by participant nodes of the non-central computing environment. The data regarding the battery or a portion thereof may be stored in a database associated with a participant node of the non-central computing environment, in particular associated with a producer of the battery, component or material, or a user of the battery. A participant node that stores data regarding an identified battery or portion thereof may provide access to other participant nodes, e.g., via peer-to-peer communications including authentication and / or authorization mechanisms. The data regarding an identified battery or portion thereof may relate to or include material composition data associated with cathode elements, such as cathode active materials, anode elements, separators, and / or electrolytes. For example, material composition data may be associated with electrode active materials. Such data may be provided by material producers for access by participant nodes of non-central computing environments, e.g., via peer-to-peer communications including authentication and / or authorization mechanisms.

[0074] The digital product identifier may include or be associated with at least one non-central identifier. The non-central identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with the data owner and the identified battery 10. The inclusion of data points may relate to a data package including such data points and / or data digitally linked or associated in any manner to the data points to virtually or digitally form a data package. The non-central identifier may include data regarding the identified battery, such as material composition data, and any unique identifier uniquely associated with the identified battery 10. The non-central identifier may include or be associated with one or more universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) or one or more digital identifiers (DIDs). The non-central identifier may be issued by a central or non-central identity issuer. The non-central identifier may include authentication information for authentication of data regarding the identified battery. Through the non-central identifier and its unique association with the identified battery 10, access to data regarding the identified battery may be controlled by at least one data owner. This is in contrast to a central authority scheme, where identifiers are provided by a central authority and access to the data is controlled by such central authority. In this context, non-centralized refers to the use of identifiers controlled by any data owner. The data may be associated with the data owner or hosted in a database under the control of the data owner. The identification elements 12, 14 may be configured to provide a digital product identifier for accessing data about an identified battery.

[0075] The non-centralized identifier may include one or more identifiers used in the non-centralized computing environment to enable data exchange across the non-centralized computing environment, such as a peer-to-peer communication channel. The data exchange may include discovery of the non-centralized identifier for a participant node of the non-centralized computing environment, authentication of the participant node of the non-centralized computing environment, and / or authorization of data transfer across peer-to-peer communication between participant nodes of the non-centralized computing environment.

[0076] The data owner may include any entity generated data, particularly data relating to the identified battery. The generating node may be coupled to an entity that owns the physical product from or for which the data, particularly data relating to the identified battery, is generated. The data, particularly data relating to the identified battery, may be generated by a third party entity on behalf of the entity that owns the physical product from or for which the data is generated. The data owner may be a producer of the material, the components contained in the battery, or the battery, such as a material producer, component producer, or product producer. Through the decentralized identifier and its unique association with the data owner and the data relating to the identified battery, access to the respective data may be controlled by the data owner. The data relating to the identified battery may be accessible to the data owner. The data owner may therefore directly or indirectly own or control the data relating to the identified battery. The data relating to the identified battery may be stored in a database of the data owner or a database associated with the data owner. The data relating to the identified battery may be stored in a database accessible by the data owner. The data owner may control access to the data relating to the identified battery via the data owner's data provisioning service. The data owner may control access to the data relating to the identified battery. The data regarding the identified battery may be associated with a data owner. The data owner may be the owner or controller of the data regarding the identified battery or the data owner regarding the identified battery. The data regarding the identified battery may be stored in the data owner's database or under the control of the data owner. In this sense, a data owner may refer to an entity that has access to the data regarding the identified battery, or a portion thereof, and that controls access by data consumption services of the non-central computing environment to the data regarding the identified battery, or a portion thereof.

[0077] In particular, the digital product identifier may be associated with material composition data that specifies the material composition of one or more components of the battery. The digital product identifier may be associated with the battery 10, and the material composition data may specify the material composition of one or more components of the battery 10.

[0078] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a battery component 30 having identification elements 32, 34. As noted in relation to Figure 1, the selection of a battery as an example of an end-of-life product is arbitrary and should not be construed as limiting.

[0079] The battery component 30 may include one or more subcomponents of the battery 10. The subcomponents may include the battery management system 16, the battery housing 20, a battery module or pack having a plurality of battery cells 22, the battery cells 22, or a combination of such subcomponents. A battery component identification element 32, 34 may be associated with the battery component 30. The identification element 32, 34 may be physically attached to the battery component 30. The identification element 32, 34 may be located inside or outside the battery component 30. The identification element 32, 34 may be a passive or active identification element 32, 34 as described in connection with FIG. 1. The battery identification element 32, 34 may be associated with a digital battery component identifier. The digital product identifier may include at least one non-central identifier associated with the identified battery component 30 as described in connection with FIG. 1. In particular, the identification element 32, 34 may be configured to provide a digital battery component identifier for accessing data regarding the identified battery component, such as, for example, material composition data as described in connection with FIG. 1. The product identifier may be associated with a component 30 for which material composition data specifies a material composition.

[0080] 3a-3c show different computing environments: centralized, decentralized and distributed. The disclosed method, device, system, use and computer elements may be implemented in a decentralized or at least partially decentralized computing environment. The provision, identification or processing of data may be realized by different computing nodes, which may be implemented in a centralized, decentralized or distributed computing environment.

[0081] Figures 3a, b show exemplary embodiments of centralized and decentralized computing environments with computing nodes. Figure 3c shows an exemplary embodiment of a distributed computing environment. Figure 3d shows an example environment for making data accessible. Such an environment may be implemented according to International Data Space (IDS) or Digital Identifier based standards from the W3C. Such an implementation facilitates making data associated with decentralized identifiers from material providers accessible to data consumers.

[0082] FIG. 3a illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a central computing system 100 including a central computing node 101 (solid circle in the center) and several peripheral computing nodes 101.1-101.n (shown as solid circles around the periphery). The term "computing system" is broadly defined herein to include one or more computing nodes, systems of nodes, network nodes, or combinations thereof. The term "computing node" is broadly defined herein to include any device or system that includes at least one physical, tangible processor and / or physical, tangible memory capable of having computer executable instructions executed by the processor. Computing nodes are now taking on more and more diverse forms. Computing nodes can be, for example, handheld devices, production facilities, sensors, monitoring systems, control systems, home appliances, laptop computers, desktop computers, mainframes, data centers, or even devices that have not traditionally been considered computing nodes, such as wearables (e.g., glasses, watches, etc.). Memory can take any form, depending on the nature and form of the computing node.

[0083] In this example, the peripheral computing nodes 101.1-101.n may be connected to one central computing system (or server). In another example, the peripheral computing nodes 101.1-101.n may be attached to the central computing node, for example, via a terminal server (not shown). Most of the functionality may be performed by or obtained from the central computing node (also referred to as a remote central location). One peripheral computing node 101.n is expanded to provide an overview of the components present in the peripheral computing nodes. The central computing node 101 may include the same components as described with respect to the peripheral computing nodes 101.n.

[0084] Each computing node 101, 101.1-101.n may include at least one hardware processor 102 and memory 104. The term "processor" may include any logic circuitry configured to perform the basic operations of a computer or system and / or generally any device configured to perform calculations or logical operations. In particular, a processor or computer processor may be configured to process the basic instructions that run a computer or system. A processor may be a semiconductor-based processor, a quantum processor, or any other type of processor configured to process instructions. As an example, a processor may be or include a central processing unit ("CPU"). A processor may be a graphics processing unit ("GPU"), a tensor processing unit ("TPU"), a complex instruction set computing microprocessor ("CISC"), a reduced instruction set computing ("RISC") microprocessor, a very long instruction word ("VLIW") microprocessor, or other processor implementing an instruction set or a combination of instruction sets. The processing means may also be one or more dedicated processing devices, such as an application specific integrated circuit ("ASIC"), a field programmable gate array ("FPGA"), a complex programmable logic device ("CPLD"), a digital signal processor ("DSP"), a network processor, etc. The methods, systems and devices described herein may be implemented as software in a DSP, a microcontroller or any other side processor, or as hardware circuitry in an ASIC, CPLD or FPGA. It should be understood that the term processor may also include one or more processing devices, such as a distributed system of processing devices located across multiple computer systems (e.g., cloud computing), and is not limited to a single device unless otherwise specified.

[0085] The memory 104 may include a physical system memory that may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination thereof. The memory may include a non-volatile mass storage such as a physical storage medium. The memory may be a computer-readable storage medium such as a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, a CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, a non-magnetic disk storage such as a solid-state disk, or any other physical, tangible storage medium that may be used to store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computing system. Moreover, the memory may be a computer-readable medium (also called a transmission medium) that carries computer-executable instructions. Furthermore, the program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures may be automatically transferred from the transmission medium to the storage medium (or vice versa) when reaching various computing system components. For example, computer-executable instructions or data structures received via a network or data link may be buffered in a RAM in a network interface module (e.g., a "NIC") and eventually transferred to the RAM of the computing system and / or to a less volatile storage medium in the computing system. Thus, it should be understood that storage media may be included in a computing component that also (or even primarily) utilizes transmission media.

[0086] Computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n may include a number of structures 106, often referred to as "executable components, executable instructions, computer-executable instructions or instructions." For example, memory 104 of computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n may be depicted as including executable components 106. The term "executable components" or any equivalent thereof may be a name for structures that may be software, hardware, or a combination thereof, or that are well understood by those skilled in the computing arts as being structures that may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, when implemented in software, those skilled in the art will understand that the structure of executable components includes software objects, routines, methods, etc., that execute on computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n, regardless of whether such executable components reside on multiple computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n, or whether the executable components reside on computer-readable storage media. In such cases, one skilled in the art will recognize that the structure of the executable components resides on a computer-readable medium such that, when interpreted by one or more processors (e.g., by processor threads) of the computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n, the computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n perform a function. Such structures may be directly computer readable by a processor (which is the case when the executable components are binary). Alternatively, the structures may be structured such that they can be interpreted and / or compiled (whether in one or more stages) to generate a binary that is directly interpretable by a processor. Such an understanding of an exemplary structure of an executable component is well within the understanding of one skilled in the computing arts when using the term "executable component."Examples of executable components implemented in hardware include hard-coded or hard-wired logic gates that are implemented exclusively or almost exclusively in hardware, such as in a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other dedicated circuit. In this description, the terms "component," "agent," "manager," "service," "engine," "module," "virtual machine," and the like are used synonymously with the term "executable component."

[0087] The processor 102 of each computing node 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n may direct the operation of each computing node 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n in response to executing computer-executable instructions that constitute executable components. For example, such computer-executable instructions may be embodied in one or more computer-readable media forming a computer program product. The computer-executable instructions may be stored in the memory 104 of each computing node 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n. The computer-executable instructions include, for example, instructions and data that, when executed by the processor 101, cause a general-purpose computing node 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n, a special-purpose computing node 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n, or a special-purpose processing device to perform a particular function or group of functions. Alternatively or additionally, the computer-executable instructions may configure the computing node 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n to perform a particular function or group of functions. The computer-executable instructions may be, for example, binaries or further instructions that undergo some interpretation (eg, compilation) before being directly executed by a processor, such as intermediate format instructions such as assembly language or even source code.

[0088] Each computing node 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n may include a communication channel 108, e.g., a network (shown as solid lines between peripheral computing nodes and the central computing node), that allows each computing node 101.1, ..., 101.n to communicate with the central computing node 101. A "network" may be defined as one or more data links that enable the transmission of electronic data between computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n, modules and / or other electronic devices. When information is transferred or provided to computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n via a network or another communication connection (either wired, wireless or a combination of wired and wireless), the computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n properly consider the connection to be a transmission medium. A transmission medium may be used to carry desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and may include a network and / or data links accessible by general-purpose or special-purpose computing nodes 101, 101.1, ..., 101.n. Combinations of the above may also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0089] Computing nodes 101, 101.1-101.n may further include a user interface system 110 used to interface with a user. User interface system 110 may include an output mechanism 110A and an input mechanism 110B. The principles described herein are not limited to the precise output mechanism 110A or input mechanism 110B as such will depend on the nature of the device. However, output mechanism 110A may include, for example, a display, a speaker, a display, a haptic output, a hologram, etc. Examples of input mechanism 110B include, for example, a microphone, a touch screen, a hologram, a camera, a keyboard, a mouse or other pointer input, any type of sensor, etc.

[0090] FIG. 3b illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a decentralized computing environment 100′ or decentralized network with several computing nodes 101.1′-101.n′ shown as solid circles. The decentralized network may include configured protocols for authentication and / or authorization. In contrast to the centralized computing environment 100 shown in FIG. 3a, the computing nodes 101.1′-101.n′ of the decentralized computing environment are not connected to the central computing node 101 and are therefore not under the control of the central computing node. Instead, both hardware and software resources may be allocated to each individual computing node 101.1′,...,101.n′ (local or remote computing system) and data may be distributed among the various computing nodes 101.1′,...,101.n′ for task execution. Thus, in a decentralized system environment or decentralized network, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. One computing node 101′ is enlarged to provide an overview of the components present in the computing node 101′. In this example, computing node 101' includes the same components as described with respect to FIG. 3a.

[0091] FIG. 3c illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a distributed computing environment 103. In this description, "distributed computing" may include any computing that utilizes multiple computing resources. Such use may be realized through virtualization of physical computing resources. One example of distributed computing is cloud computing. "Cloud computing" may refer to a model for enabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services). When distributed, a cloud computing environment may be distributed internally within an organization and / or across multiple organizations. In this example, the distributed cloud computing environment 103 may include the following computing resources: mobile devices 114, applications 116, databases 118, data storage 120, and servers 122. The cloud computing environment 103 may be deployed as a public cloud 124, a private cloud 126, or a hybrid cloud 128. The private cloud 124 may be owned by the organization, and only members of the organization with appropriate access may use the private cloud 126, keeping the data in the private cloud at least confidential. In contrast, data stored in the public cloud 126 may be open to anyone via the Internet. A hybrid cloud 128 may be a combination of a private cloud 124 and a public cloud 126, where some data may be allowed to remain confidential while other data may be publicly available.

[0092] Referring back to Figures 1 and 2, examples of battery or battery component identifiers provided by the identification elements 12, 14, 32, 34 of the battery as a product to be recycled may be processed in at least a partial non-centralized computing environment or non-centralized network. For example, the battery or battery component identifier may be configured to access battery or battery component data, such as material data or material composition data. The product or product component identifier may be configured to access product or product component data, such as material data or material composition data. Furthermore, the non-centralized identifier may be associated with a recycling or production plant involved in the recycling or production of the battery. The recycling or production plant identifier may be configured to access operational data, such as recycling or production plant data. Examples of operational data may be capacity data, process specific data or location data. By associating such non-centralized identifiers with authentication information and optionally authorization rules, data may be securely and reliably shared across participants or systems of the production and / or recycling chain via non-centralized network nodes associated with such participants, such as peer-to-peer communication.

[0093] 3d illustrates an exemplary environment or decentralized network 300 for making data accessible according to standards set by the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA; e.g., IDS Reference Architecture Version 3.0 April 2019) or the W3C (Decentral Identifiers (DID) v1.0, Core architecture, data model, and representations, per W3C Proposed Recommendation 03 August 2021). Such an implementation facilitates making data associated with decentralized identifiers from material providers accessible to data consumers.

[0094] In the example, a data providing service 304 including a data retrieval system 308 and a connector 310 shares material data 316 with a data consuming service 306 including a data retrieval system 312 and a connector 314 via a decentralized network protocol. The data providing service 304 and the data consuming service 306 are associated with network nodes or computing nodes of a network. The data providing service 304 and the data consuming service 306 are associated with local databases 320a, 320b controlled by the respective participant nodes.

[0095] Data regarding the identified battery or portion thereof may be provided or made accessible in association with the material, component, and / or battery 302 in response to an identifier for such data. The material, component, and / or battery 302 may be associated with a digital identifier. The digital identifier may include, for example, one or more non-centralized identifiers as described in association with Figs. 1-3. The non-centralized identifier may be an identifier in the non-centralized network 300 that enables data exchange over the non-centralized network 300 between participant nodes via data providing / consuming services 304, 306. One participant node in Fig. 3d may be associated with the data providing service 304. Another participant node in Fig. 3d may be associated with the data consuming service 306. The data exchange may include discovery of the non-centralized identifier for a participant node of the non-centralized network 300, authentication of the participant node of the non-centralized network 300, and / or authorization of data transfer over peer-to-peer communication between participant nodes of the non-centralized network 300.

[0096] Upon reading the identifier elements, e.g., via a reader element 308 as illustrated in Figures 1 or 2, a digital identifier for each battery, component or material may be provided, e.g., via a non-central network database (not shown). Digital relationships between the identifiers may be provided, which may reflect the physical relationships of the battery, its components and its materials. The identifiers may be associated with a digital representation of battery data or portions thereof relating to the battery, its components or materials.

[0097] The battery identifier may include or be associated with a non-centralized identifier that is uniquely associated with the identified battery. Similarly, the identifier may be associated with a component or material of the battery. The non-centralized identifier may include one or more universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) or digital identifiers (DIDs). The non-centralized identifier may include any unique identifier that is uniquely associated with a data owner, a battery, a component, and / or a material. The data owner may be a producer of the battery, component, or material. Through the non-centralized identifier and its unique association with the data owner, battery, component, and / or material access to the battery data or portions thereof may be controlled by the data owner.

[0098] The non-central identifier may be connected to a digital representation of battery data associated with the battery, components contained in the battery, or materials contained in the battery. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the battery data or a portion thereof, such as material data or material composition data, which may be provided by a material producer. The digital representation of the battery data or a portion thereof may be stored in a non-central database (not shown). The battery data or a portion thereof, such as material data or material composition data, may be stored in a local database associated with a data owner, such as a material, component, or battery producer.

[0099] The battery 10 may be associated or related to a digital representation of battery data or a portion thereof associated with the battery, components of the battery, and / or materials contained in the battery or its components. The digital representation may be associated with a respective digital identifier of the battery 10, components and / or materials contained in the battery 10 or its components. The digital representation may point to or be linked to or provide a link to battery data or a portion thereof, such as components of the battery and / or materials contained in the battery or its components. The digital representation may include at least one interface to a data providing service 304 configured to make the respective battery data or a portion thereof accessible or to transfer the respective battery data or a portion thereof. The digital representation may include at least one interface to a data consuming service configured to access or receive the respective battery data or a portion thereof. The digital representation may include endpoints for data exchange or sharing (resource endpoints) or endpoints for service interaction (service endpoints) that are uniquely identified via a communication protocol. The digital representation pointing to data regarding the battery or a portion thereof may thus be uniquely associated with a non-central identifier.

[0100] Upon providing the identifier, a representation pointing to the respective data, e.g., material data or material composition data, may be provided to the data consuming service 306, e.g., via a non-central registry. In the example of material composition data, which should not be considered limiting, the material composition data may be stored in a database 310 associated with a material producer or provider. The data consuming service 306 associated with the reader 308 may request access to such data from the data providing service 304 of the material producer or provider. Authentication and / or authorization information linked to the identifier may be shared to authenticate and / or authorize access from the data consuming service 306 to the data provided by the data providing service 304. The authentication and / or authorization information may be provided for authentication and / or authorization of the data providing service 304 and / or the data consuming service 306.

[0101] In one embodiment, the data for the portion of batteries points to or is linked to or includes a link to the material composition data or a portion thereof. In one embodiment, the data for the portion of batteries includes one or more digital representations that point to or link to or provide a link to battery data or material data or a portion thereof stored in, for example, a local database of a material provider. In this context, pointing, linking, or linking means any network representation or address suitable for accessing the data for the portion of batteries stored in a local database. The data for the portion of batteries may include multiple digital representations that point to, link to, or provide a link to separate portions of the battery data. The data for the batteries may include multiple digital representations that point to, link to, or provide a link to different portions of the battery data. Such different portions may overlap at some data points. The representations may include access points to the battery data, links for accessing the battery data, endpoints for accessing the battery data, and / or service endpoints for accessing the battery data. In this manner, the battery data may be maintained and controlled by the data owner. Since there is no need to check and access control multiple distributed data points, access can be provided via a representation of an access point that simplifies data validation, integrity or quality checks and access control. The battery data can be stored in a database 320 of the data owner or a database 320 associated with the data owner. The battery data can be stored in a database 320 accessible to the data owner. A digital representation that points to, links to or provides a link to the battery data or a portion thereof can be associated with or associated with the data owner or any such database accessible to the data owner. For added security, a digital representation that points to the battery data or a portion thereof can be associated with the data owner or indirectly associated with any such database accessible to the data owner.

[0102] Similar to the access and transfer of data as described above for the example material composition data, other data may be securely shared within a decentralized network between different nodes associated with different participants in the network. Any of the data provided in the different methods, embodiments, and systems described may be provided by nodes of the decentralized network.

[0103] The at least partial decentralized structure based on decentralized identifiers enables novel methods, apparatus, systems, computer elements, computer executable instructions and their use in product recycling processes, which are described below.

[0104] 4 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for providing a material identifier package that can be used to recycle materials contained in a product, and in particular a method for operating a recycling process based on the material identifier package or a method for sorting products to be recycled, such as batteries, based on material composition data associated with a product identifier, which may be implemented in a network such as that illustrated in FIG.

[0105] The material identifier package may include a digital identifier associated with the product to be recycled, such as a battery. By bundling the digital identifiers according to their associated material composition, the products to be recycled, particularly batteries, may be physically bundled by material composition that is otherwise not easily accessible from the physical products, particularly batteries. In this manner, physical products, such as batteries, may be virtually or digitally bundled such that the recycling process can be performed more efficiently. To do so, collection, sorting and / or transportation instructions may be derived based on the material identifier package to physically bundle the respective products, particularly batteries, according to their material composition, simplifying the recycling process.

[0106] A product identifier associated with the product to be recycled may be provided. Such data may be provided, for example, via an identifier element physically connected to the product or a component of the product to be recycled, as described in connection with Figs. 1-3. The product identifier may thus be associated with the product and / or product component to be recycled. The identifier element of the product may be read as described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. The material data may be retrieved by a node of the non-central network associated with reading the identifier element. The non-central identifier may be retrieved. Based on the non-central identifier, a digital representation of the battery data or a portion thereof may be retrieved. The representation may include a link or pointer to the data. The battery data may include material composition data. The material composition data may be provided by a node of the non-central network associated with a producer of the product, a component of the product, or a material used to produce the product, such as a cathode active material used to produce the cathode element of the battery 10. The node of the non-central network associated with reading the identifier element may request access to the material composition data, for example, as described in connection with Figs. 1-3.

[0107] Based on the product identifier, material data such as material composition data may be accessed, for example, as described in relation to Figs. 1-3. For example, cathode active materials are valuable to recycling processes due to the precious metals contained in the cathode active materials. To recover and recycle such materials for the manufacture of new batteries, material composition data of the battery related to the material composition of the cathode active materials may be accessed. For example, the material data may be accessed through a data service associated with each product identifier and requesting access to the material data controlled by a material data owner. The data service may include computer executable instructions operating at least in part in a decentralized computing environment. Such computer executable instructions may be based on a Json Web Token (JWT) including authentication information, authorization information and / or digital representations pointing to the material composition data or portions thereof. The digital representations may include endpoints for data exchange or sharing (resource endpoints) or endpoints for service interaction (service endpoints) that are uniquely identified via a communication protocol. The digital representations pointing to the material composition data or portions thereof may be uniquely associated with the product identifier.

[0108] The material data may include material composition data associated with at least one component of the product 10. The material composition data may represent the material composition of one or more components of the product 10. The material composition may include the material type, material properties, and / or chemical composition of at least one component of the product 10. The material type may include, but is not limited to, plastics, metal-containing materials, polymer-containing materials, composite materials such as those used in the product 10 or intermediate products, raw materials or by-products in manufacturing the product 10. The material properties may include, but are not limited to, physical material properties, such as thermodynamic, mechanical, electrodynamic, optical and acoustic material properties, and / or chemical material properties, such as standard electrode potential and electronegativity. The chemical composition may relate to one or more ingredients and their amounts. The term component of the product 10 may include all components included in the product 10, such as the cathode element 26 or the anode element 24. For example, material composition data may provide the cell chemistry such as the cathode active materials Al, Li, Co, Ni in percentages, the anode active materials such as graphite, the composition electrolyte such as a conductive salt or solvent, the separator or other materials included in the battery cell.

[0109] The material configuration data may be associated with the electrode element 26 or one of the components, such as the cathode active material in the example of the battery. In one such example, the material configuration may specify the chemical composition of the cathode active material. Examples are material configurations based on lithium nickel manganese (NCM type) such as lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (LiNiCoMnO2), lithium iron phosphate (LPF type) such as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 / C), lithium nickel manganese (LMNO type) such as lithium nickel manganese spinel (LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4), lithium nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA type) such as lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (LiNiCoAlO2), lithium manganese (LMO type) such as lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4), lithium cobalt (LCO type) such as lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), or combinations thereof. The material configuration data may be associated with the anode element 24 or the anode active material. In one such embodiment, the material composition may represent the chemical composition of the anode active material. Examples are natural graphite, synthetic graphite, other graphite types, or combinations thereof. The material composition data may be associated with the electrolyte 22, separator 28, cell 18 or module packaging, housing 20, etc. For example, the material composition data may provide the cell chemistry, such as the anode active material, such as cathode active material Al, Li, Co, Ni, graphite, etc. in percentages, the composition electrolyte, such as conductive salts or solvents, the separator, or other materials included in the battery cell.

[0110] As shown in FIG. 6, the product identifiers may be associated with different product components and corresponding material configurations. In the example of FIG. 6, the cathode element, the anode element, the separator element, and the housing are exemplary components. The cathode element may be associated with a material configuration of the electrode active material, LMO in the case of ID1 and NCM in the case of ID2. The anode element may be associated with a material configuration of the anode active material, natural graphite in the case of ID1 and synthetic graphite and silicon in the case of ID2. Similarly, the material configuration for the separator may be specified by the type of membrane, and the material configuration for the housing by the type of plastic. In other embodiments, components such as the cathode element, the anode element, the separator element, and / or the housing may each be associated with a component identifier. Through the product identifier and / or the component identifier, the respective material configuration data may be retrieved. The identifiers may include non-central identifiers.

[0111] Based on the material composition data associated with the product identifier, at least one material composition that can be or is processed by at least one recycling plant can be identified to provide a material identifier package. For example, as shown in FIG. 7 for the battery ID of FIG. 6, the following two packages can be collected: package ID1 for the cathode element of the battery with ID1 having LCO as the cathode active material, and package ID2 for the cathode element of the battery with ID2 and IDn having NCM as the cathode active material. Based on the material composition data, the products 10 or product components 30 can be identified by material compositions that can be recycled in the same recycling plant or together. In this way, the products or product components to be recycled can be virtually collected or sorted by the product identifier associated with such material composition. For such identification, different embodiments are possible. Here, only some examples are described as exemplary embodiments, which are not considered to be limiting.

[0112] In one example, matching logic may be used to identify material identifier packages for material compositions that can be or will be processed by at least one recycling plant. Such matching may be based on the material composition of one or more components. Multiple algorithms may be employed for matching, ranging from search algorithms to data-driven classification models.

[0113] For example, matching may be performed by chemical composition of the components. A classification instruction may be provided for matching. Such classification instruction may be predefined or dynamically adjustable. For example, material configurations A, B, C may be predefined by at least a part of the chemical composition of one component, such as specifying electrolyte composition, anode active material composition, cathode active material composition. The matching scheme may in principle look as follows: One-Component Matching for the Battery Example Classification by composition A: Cathode active materials x, y, z B: Cathode active materials a, b, c C: Cathode active materials d, e, f Component Material Composition Battery ID1, Cathode active material x Battery ID2, cathode active material y Battery component material composition matching Battery ID1, cathode active material x → Class A Battery ID2, cathode active material y → Class A For multiple components, material configurations A, B, C can be predefined by at least partially specifying the composition of multiple components. For example, for the battery example, compositions such as the housing composition, electrolyte composition, anode composition and cathode composition or any other component composition can be predefined. The matching scheme can in principle look like this: More Component-Based Matching for the Battery Example Classification by composition A: electrolyte x, y, z; anode l, m, k; cathode e, d, f B: electrolyte g, h, i; anode j, n, o; cathode p, q, r Component Material Composition Battery ID1, electrolyte x, anode l, cathode f Battery ID2, electrolyte y, anode l, cathode e Battery material composition matching Battery ID1, electrolyte x, anode l, cathode f → Class A Battery ID2, electrolyte y, anode l, cathode e → Class A In another example, matching may be performed by chemical composition of the class. Such matching may be based on the material composition of one or more components. For example, the search may be performed by chemical composition. A classification instruction may be provided for the search. Such classification instruction may be predefined or dynamically adjustable. For example, material configurations A, B, C may be predefined at least in part by the chemical composition of one component, such as for the battery example specifying the electrolyte composition, the anode composition, the cathode composition. For example, material configurations A, B, C may be predefined at least in part by the component composition, specifying the housing composition, the electrolyte composition, the anode composition and the cathode composition, as well as the composition of any other components. The search scheme may in principle look as follows: Classification by component composition for battery examples A: electrolyte x, y, z; anode l, m, k; cathode e, d, f B:… C… Component Material Composition Battery ID1, electrolyte x, anode l, cathode f Battery ID2, electrolyte y, anode l, cathode e Search Battery Material Compositions by Class Class A: Battery ID 1, electrolyte x, anode l, cathode f Class B: Battery ID 2, electrolyte y, anode l, cathode e Once a match or search has been made, products or components that can be or will be processed by the recycling plant can be identified through their identifiers associated with the respective material configurations. Such packages of product or component identifiers can be assigned to recycling plants by providing recycling plant data associated with recycling plants that can process such material packages.

[0114] In another example, advanced logic may be used. Such advanced logic may be based on material composition data and recycle plant data of one or more components. For example, the recycle plant data may include a recycle plant identifier and a specification of one or more material compositions that can be or are processed by a recycle plant that performs at least one recycling process on the one or more material compositions. In this way, classification based on material composition data may be directly related to a specific recycle plant. Respective classification instructions may be provided that include material composition data and recycle plant data of one or more components.

[0115] Based on the identification of the material identifier package, a material identifier package and associated product identifier may be provided. The material identifier package may thus include a collection of product identifiers associated with one or more material configurations that can be or will be processed together in a recycling plant. A package identifier may be generated by uniquely associating with such a package. A product identifier associated with at least one material configuration that can be or will be processed together may be linked to the package identifier. The package identifier may thus be associated with a product or product component that can be or will be processed together by at least one recycling plant or process. A material identifier package and / or a package of product identifiers including a package identifier may be provided. In addition, the material identifier package may include a material configuration for the package identifier or the package of battery identifiers. The material identifier package may include a plant identifier for each package of package identifiers or the package of battery identifiers indicating the recycling plant where the product or product component will be processed.

[0116] Optionally, the material identifier package may be used to generate and provide sorting and / or collection instructions, as described in more detail in connection with FIGS. 5 and 14. Such instructions may be generated based on the package of product identifiers or package identifiers and / or product or component location data associated with the product or component identifiers. In one example, the collection instructions may be displayed on a user interface where the pickup is scheduled. The sorting instructions may include machine-readable instructions that may be provided to a sorter. The sorter may read the product identifiers and sort the products or components according to the material identifier package. The sorter may, in other embodiments, be provided with sorting instructions as described above. The sorter may read the product identifiers and sort the products or components based on the sorting instructions and generate a virtual material identifier package.

[0117] Further, optionally, the material identifier package may be used to generate and provide transportation and / or storage instructions, as described in more detail in connection with Figures 5 and 14. Such instructions may be generated based on the package of product or component identifiers or package identifiers, location data relating to the product or component identifiers, and / or operational data relating to the plant identifier. The location data may be associated with the physical location of the product or product component being recycled. The operational data may include data indicative of the location of the plant, the capacity of the plant, and / or process details of the plant.

[0118] 5 shows another exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for providing a material identifier package usable for recycling materials contained in a product, in particular for operating a recycling process based on the material identifier package or for operating a method for sorting products to be recycled, such as batteries, based on material composition data associated with a product identifier, the method may be implemented in a network as illustrated in FIG.

[0119] One or more product identifiers, such as a battery identifier, and associated material composition data may be provided, for example, as described in relation to Figs. 1, 2, 3d and 4. The material composition data may be associated with a material composition, such as a material type, material properties or chemical composition, associated with one or more product components from which the product is made, such as a battery. A passive or active product identification element 12, 14, 32, 34 may be associated with a physical product, such as a battery. The identification element may be configured to provide a product identifier, particularly a battery identifier, and associated material data for the physical product, particularly a battery, with which it is associated or related, as described in relation to Figs. 1-4. Additionally or alternatively, the product identifier, particularly a battery identifier, may be provided via a product element and the material composition data may be provided through a measurement.

[0120] Material classification instructions may be provided that classify the identifiers of one or more components of a product, particularly a battery, with respect to material type / characteristics or chemical composition. For example, for batteries, this may include a classification by material composition for one or more components of a battery to be recycled. In one option, a classification of material composition classes A, B, C may relate to the following components: A: electrolyte x, y, z; anode (passive and active materials) l, m, k; cathode (passive and active materials) e, d, f; housing g, h, I; battery management system m, n, o; separator p, q, r B: electrolyte x2, y2, z2; anode (passive and active materials) l2, m2, k2; cathode (passive and active materials) e2, d2, f2; casing g2, h2, I2; battery management system m2, n2, o2; separator p2, q2, r2 C electrolyte x3, y3, z3; anode (passive and active materials) l3, m3, k3; cathode (passive and active materials) e3, d3, f3; casing g3, h3, l3; battery management system m3, n3, o3; separator p3, q3, r3 In another option, classification of material composition classes A, B, C may relate to selected components that are eligible for recycling. A: Cathode (passive and active materials) abc B: Cathode (passive and active materials) def C: Cathode (passive and active materials) ghj The products or components may be classified by the material composition data with classification instructions. A material identifier package including the number of products or components per class may be identified and provided. The products or components may be classified based on their identifiers, associated material composition data and the provided material classification instructions. Based on the classified product identifiers, the amount of material may be identified, e.g., by component, e.g., by the number of products or components and / or the amount of material to be recycled.

[0121] The plant identifier may be provided together with operational data such as capacity data, process data and / or location data. The operational data may be associated with the plant identifier and may include capacity data, process data and / or material data or material classification instructions. The classified quantities, numbers and / or compositions of products or components based on classified components or product identifiers may be matched with the plant identifier based on the capacity, process details and / or location of the recycling plant. One plant identifier may be selected and provided based on the classified numbers, quantities and / or compositions of packages with respective product or component identifiers or package identifiers. Product or component identifiers of one or more material classifications may be assigned to the recycling plant. The assignment may be based on plant capacity, process details, material composition and / or material classification. The operational data may be static data regarding the general specifications of the plant or may be dynamic regarding the current specifications of the plant. The latter allows real-time perspective regarding capacity, process data and / or material data. The plants may be matched based on real-time information enabling more efficient and targeted use of plant resources in the recycling process. The material packages may be physically retrieved, for example, by sorting, retrieving, storing and / or transporting instructions based on the package of product or component identifiers or package identifiers and possibly plant identifiers, as described in connection with Figures 4 and 5.

[0122] Collection, sorting, storage and / or transport instructions for a collector system, a sorting system, a storage system and / or a transport system may be generated and provided. The sorting instructions may be identified based on the package of product or component identifiers or the material identifier package having a package identifier. The sorting instructions may relate the product identifier or component identifier provided by the sensor reading the product or component identifier element to a material configuration that can be processed or processed with, such as can be processed by or processed with, at least one recycling plant. Such a relationship may include using a sorting instruction that provides the material configuration that can be processed or processed with, such as can be processed by or processed with, at least one plant. Such a relationship may include using a sorting instruction that relates the material configuration that can be processed or processed with, to at least one plant identifier. The sorting instructions may relate the product identifier or component identifier provided by the sensor reading the product or component identifier element to a product identifier or component identifier included in the material identifier package. The sorting instructions may be provided to a sorting system for sorting the products or components to be recycled. The sorting system may be controlled and / or monitored based on such instructions. In some embodiments, the sorting instructions may be provided to a sorting system configured to read product or component identifiers from the products or components and sort such identifiers to sort the products or components. Such sorting allows for simple and efficient sorting, as the logic for sorting may be implemented at least in part in a non-centralized computing environment and the sorting system may be based on reading elements combined with sorting hardware, such as a robot.

[0123] As illustrated in FIG. 14 , the product or component identifiers may be provided to a sorting system. The sorting system may be configured to monitor and / or control sorting of products or components associated with one or more classes based on sorting and / or classification instructions. The sorting system may be configured to monitor and / or control sorting of products or components by material composition based on sorting and / or classification instructions. In this manner, sorting of products or components may be performed by reading identifiers associated with the products or components, simplifying sorting of such products or components by material composition.

[0124] Alternatively or additionally, collection instructions may be specified based on the material identifier package. The collection instructions may relate the product or component identifier provided by the sensor reading the product or component identifier element to a material configuration that can be processed or processed together, such as can be processed or processed by at least one recycling plant. Such a relationship may include using a sorting instruction to provide a material configuration that can be processed or processed together, such as can be processed or processed by at least one plant. Such a relationship may include using a sorting instruction to associate a material configuration that can be processed or processed together with at least one plant identifier. Further collection point data may be provided that represents a collection point for at least one component of the product. The collection point data may be included in the material identifier package. In this way, the product or component may be sorted by targeted collection and at the same time the sorting may be realized with collection simplifying the recycling process.

[0125] As shown in Fig. 14, product or component identifiers associated with one classification may be provided to a collector system. The collector system may be configured to monitor and / or control the collection of products or components associated with one or more classes based on collection and / or sorting instructions. The collector system may be configured to monitor and / or control the collected products or components by material composition based on collection and / or sorting instructions. In this way, sorting of products or components may be performed directly at the time of collection, making a further sorting process unnecessary.

[0126] The collector system may be configured to collect products or components and provide product or component identifiers for classification by material class. The classified product or component identifiers may be provided to the sorting system. Such provision may be direct from the collector system to the sorting system or indirect via the computing environment to the sorting system. The collector system may be configured to collect products or components and to classify the product or component identifiers by material composition, store the associated identifiers, and provide product or component identifiers per material class, for example to the sorting system. The product or component identifiers associated with a classification may be provided to the sorting system. The sorting system may be configured to sort the collected products or components associated with one or more classes. The sorting system may be configured to provide identifiers for classification by material composition and to sort the products or components based on the material composition. The product or component IDs associated with a material classification may be provided by the collector system or the computing environment.

[0127] Additionally or alternatively, a transport instruction may be generated. Collection point data may be provided indicating a collection point for the product or at least one component of the product. The collection point data may be included in a material identifier package. A transport instruction may be identified based on the collection point data and the plant location data or storage location data. Based on such data, one or more transport routes may be identified. The collection point data may represent a starting point for the transport and the plant location data may represent a destination point for the transport route. Such transport routes may be provided to a transport system, such as an autonomous vehicle, or to a user interface, such as a display.

[0128] Additionally or alternatively, storing instructions may be specified based on the capacity data and the number of products or components having a material configuration that can be processed or will be processed together. The amount of material or the number of products or components per class or subclass may be specified based on the material classification. The amount of material may be provided to a storage system for managing the storage of the products or components and / or a transportation system or computing environment for transporting the products or components. The storage instructions may be provided to a storage management system or as transport instructions to a transportation system.

[0129] A recycling run for a recycled material may be scheduled by providing the package identifier along with the plant identifier to the plant operations system. Sorting, recovery, storage and / or transport instructions may be provided to the recycling plant operations system. A recycling run may be scheduled for each package or class of product or component by providing the package of product or component identifiers or the package identifier to the recycling plant operations system. The assigned identifier may be provided to the recycling plant operations system indicated by the recycling plant identifier along with the material identifier package for scheduling the recycling run.

[0130] 8 shows an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for providing plant allocation data usable for processing recycled materials, particularly for operating a recycling process. The method may be implemented in a network such as that illustrated in FIG. 3d.

[0131] For recycling of materials contained in a product, recycled material data can be generated and provided, as shown in the examples of Figs. 4 and 5, in particular for material identifier packages that can be used to operate a recycling process. Such identifier data can be used to operate a recycling process that mechanically and / or chemically recycles a product or at least one component of a product. The recycled material data can include product or component identifiers associated with at least one material configuration that can be or is processed by at least one recycling plant. Such identifiers can be associated with packages or package identifiers that collect the product or component identifiers. For the example of a battery, the electrode elements can be separated from the battery by dismantling and disassembly and further processed according to the packages that collect the battery or electrode element identifiers. In this way, recycled materials such as black mass can be virtually tracked during the recycling process, and such tracking can be used to operate the plants that process the respective materials.

[0132] A recycled material identifier and corresponding recycled material data associated with the recycled material may be provided. The recycled material identifier may be associated with one or more product or component identifiers and corresponding material composition data of a product to be recycled to provide the recycled material. The recycled material data may be provided by computer executable instructions executed at least partially in a non-central or non-central computing environment, the computer executable instructions accessing the recycled material data of the recycled material based on the recycled material identifier. The material composition data may be provided by a computing node of the non-central computing environment associated with a producer that produces or uses the material, such as a material producer. The material composition data may be provided as part of the recycled material data. The material composition data may be provided by a product identifier included in the recycled material data and by accessing the material composition data via the product identifier. The recycled material data may include a material composition of the recycled material identified based on or at the time of its generation. For accessing the recycled material data, the recycled material data provider may include one or more recycling systems that generate the material identifier package. The recycled material data may be provided by a computing node of the non-central computing environment associated with one or more recycling systems, preferably configured to generate the material identifier package and / or identify the material composition of the recycled material based on the material identifier package. The recycled material identifier may relate to a material package identifier and corresponding material composition data associated with the recycled material. The recycled material may include, for example, battery cell or black mass material provided by recycling electrode elements of a battery.

[0133] Operational data associated with at least one operational characteristic of the plant may be provided. The operational data may be provided by computer executable instructions executed at least in part in the non-central computing environment, the computer executable instructions accessing the operational data of the plant based on the plant identifier. The operational data may be provided by a non-central computing node associated with one or more plants, such as a recycling plant, and / or one or more recycling systems, such as collectors, sorters, transport, storage systems, etc. The operational data may be provided for access or accessed by the non-central computing node associated with classification instructions associating the one or more recycling systems and / or one or more plants with recycled material data and / or recycled material identifiers. The operational data may be accessed by the non-central computing node associated with classification instructions associating the one or more recycling systems and / or one or more plants with recycled material data and / or recycled material identifiers, as needed. The operational data may include classification instructions associating the one or more plants with recycled material data and / or recycled material identifiers. The operational data may be provided to identify a plant identifier that identifies a plant suitable for processing recycled material associated with recycled material data and / or recycled product identifier data, such as recycled material identifiers. The operational data may include a plant identifier, a plant capacity relating to the capacity of the plant, process data relating to the process characteristics of the plant and / or material classification data relating to materials that can be or are processed by the plant. The operational data may be provided or accessed in a non-central computing environment. The operational data may relate to static production characteristics of the plant and / or dynamic production characteristics of the plant. The operational plant data may be static data relating to the general specifications of the plant or may be dynamic relating to the current specifications of the plant. The latter allows real-time insight into capacity, process data and / or material data. The plant may be aligned based on real-time information enabling more efficient and targeted use of plant resources in recycling or production processes.

[0134] The assignment of plant identifier data, such as a plant identifier, to recycled material data and / or recycled product or component identifier data, such as a recycled material identifier, may be based on plant capacity data, process data, and / or material data. The plant may be any recycling plant, including, for example, mechanical, thermal, chemical, or a combination thereof. For the battery example, the plant may be a metallurgical plant for recovering transition metals from battery materials. The metallurgical plant may be a hydrometallurgical plant and / or a pyrometallurgical plant. The recycled material may be assigned to a one-stage, two-stage, or multi-stage process including at least one hydrometallurgical plant and / or a pyrometallurgical plant. The recycled material may contain electrode active material. The recycled material may be black mass.

[0135] The plant identifier data, such as a plant identifier, may be identified by sorting according to a sorting instruction that provides material data that can be or will be processed by the plant. The sorting instruction may be provided or executed by at least one node of the non-central computing system. The sorting instruction may be executed at least partially in the non-central computing environment, where the sorting instruction collects recycled material identifiers and respective plant identifiers that associate one or more plants with recycled material data, such as recycled material composition. The sorting instruction, which accesses the recycled material data based on a recycled material or product identifier, may initiate sorting and subsequently forwarding of the sorting results. The sorting instruction may be triggered by one or more recycling systems at any stage of the recycling process following the generation of the material identifier package. The sorting instruction may access the recycled material data via a recycled material identifier provided by one or more recycling systems and / or a product identifier provided by a material producer. The sorting instruction may forward the sorting results to one or more recycling systems, such as a sorting, recovery, transport or storage system, and / or one or more plants, such as a recycling and / or production plant.

[0136] Such classification instructions may include material compositions that can be or will be processed by the plant. For the battery example, if the battery material composition represents Li as a component, the assigned plant may be a hydrometallurgical plant. Further, for example, if Li is not included as a constituent element, a pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical plant may be assigned. Additionally or alternatively, the identification of the plant identifier data may include capacity or process details. For the battery example, if the electrolyte fluid is part of the recycled material, plant operating details such as electrolyte separation may need to be adapted or a plant with appropriate process details may need to be assigned. Further, for example, if the plant capacity is already filled, another plant may be assigned. For example, the quantity or amount of recycled material may be identified via recycled material identifier and material composition data. The material composition may include relative quantities or amounts of components and / or absolute amounts of material. The identifying plant identifier data, production data may relate to the production process of the plant. The plant identifier may be identified based on operations related to the material classification. A plant identifier may be provided. A plant assignment data including a plant identifier and an associated recycled material identifier may be provided. In this way, incoming recycled materials can be identified and processed by the plant.

[0137] At least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing a recycled material associated with the at least one recycled product identifier may be identified. Identifying the at least one plant identifier may include selecting a plant identifier associated with a plant for processing a recycled material associated with the recycled product or component identifier data based on the operational data. Identifying the at least one plant identifier may include classification by classification instructions providing material data associated with one or more material configurations processable or processed by the at least one plant. Identifying the at least one plant identifier may include matching the at least one recycled material identifier with the at least one plant identifier based on the amount of recycled material and the capacity of the plant. Identifying the at least one plant identifier may include matching the at least one recycled material identifier with the at least one plant identifier based on process data associated with one or more recycling processes and / or material data associated with at least one material configuration processable or processed by the at least one plant.

[0138] Plant allocation data including at least one recycled material identifier for at least one plant identifier may be provided. From the plant allocation data, transportation and / or storage instructions may be identified and provided. Operational instructions for at least one manufacturing execution system of the plant may be provided and transmitted.

[0139] Transportation and / or storage instructions based on the location data associated with the recycled material identifier and the plant identifier may be generated and provided, for example, as disclosed in connection with Figures 5 and 14. Operational instructions for at least one manufacturing execution system of the plant may be provided. The plant may be controlled and / or monitored according to the operational instructions, which may include one or more execution tasks.

[0140] Fig. 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for allocating plants to operate a recycling process. The method can be implemented in a network such as that illustrated in Fig. 3d.

[0141] A product or component identifier and corresponding material composition may be provided. A classification instruction may be provided to classify the product or component by chemical composition. For example, for a battery, a cathode active material may be accessed or provided. A product or component identifier may be matched according to the chemical composition of one or more products, e.g., in the case of a battery, from the cathode active material of the battery. A package identifier associated with the chemical composition of a package, such as a black mass package in the battery example, may be generated, for example, as disclosed in connection with FIGS. 1-7 and 14, 15.

[0142] To match an appropriate recycling plant for running the recycling process, operational data and plant identifiers may be accessed or provided. The operational data may include a plant identifier associated with process and capacity data. Based on the operational data, a package identifier may be matched with a plant identifier. For example, a number of products or components or quantities or amounts of materials to be recycled may be identified from the package identifier. Material packages may be assigned to plants based on the quantities or amounts or numbers and plant capacity. Each plant identifier may be provided along with a package identifier associated with the product or component or package of material.

[0143] The packages may be collected with storage or transport instructions based on the package identifier and the plant identifier. Additionally or alternatively, plant recycling operations for each package of products or components or materials may be scheduled by providing the package identifier to the recycling plant operations system.

[0144] Fig. 10 shows an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram for allocating plants to operate a recycling process. The method can be implemented in a network such as that illustrated in Fig. 3d.

[0145] A product or component identifier and associated material composition data, as well as a plant identifier and associated operational data may be provided. The operational data may include capacity, material handling, and process data for the plant indicated by the plant identifier.

[0146] The capacity data may be matched to the quantity or amount of recycled material or the number of products or components associated with the product or component identifier. Additional matching criteria may be plant process data and / or material processing data related to the material configuration data associated with the product or component identifier or the recycled material data associated with the recycled material identifier.

[0147] If a suitable plant is not identified, a storage order may be generated and an associated product or component identifier or recycled material identifier may be stored in the database for the unassigned recycled material package.

[0148] If a plant with recycling capabilities is identified, the product or component identifier or recycled material identifier may be matched with the material processing data or process data.

[0149] If a suitable plant is identified, the product or component identifier or recycled material identifier may be assigned to a plant identifier, which may then receive the identifier and schedule a recycling process.

[0150] If a suitable plant is not identified, a storage order may be generated and a respective identifier may be stored in the database for the unassigned package.

[0151] 11-13 visualize exemplary data structures that may be implemented in at least a partially decentralized or centralized environment based on a decentralized identifier. Such data structures may be implemented in a decentralized or centralized storage environment based on, for example, a relational database, a graph database, etc. The example shows batteries as end products to be recycled. This is an arbitrary choice and should not be considered limiting.

[0152] Battery identifiers can be associated with different components of the battery. Such battery identifiers can be matched and assigned to package identifiers as described in connection with Fig. 7. Through such virtual sorting based on the associated material composition, packages can be collected and / or sorted to match respective recycling processes. The method can be implemented in a network as described in Fig. 3d.

[0153] The package can be assigned to a recycling plant for recycling the packaged material composition of the battery material. The package identifier can be virtually assigned to a recycling plant identifier at the first and / or second stages of the recycling process, for example, as described in connection with Figures 15 and 16.

[0154] The produced recycled material packages can be assigned, via the associated package identifier, to a further recycling plant that produces the recyclates, and the recyclates can be assigned, via the associated package identifier, to a plant identifier associated with a plant that uses the recyclates to produce new batteries.

[0155] Fig. 14 shows an exemplary system for operating a recycling process in a recycling chain. The example shows batteries as the final product to be recycled. This is an arbitrary selection and should not be considered limiting. The system may include or be part of a method that may be implemented in a network such as that described in Fig. 3d.

[0156] At the start of the recycling chain is an end-of-life product 1400. In this case, the end-of-life product 1400 is a lithium ion battery. The lithium ion battery may include identifier elements as described in connection with Figures 1 and 2. Such battery or component identifiers may be used in a decentralized computing environment or network, for example, as outlined in connection with Figures 3a-3d.

[0157] An identifier for the serviced battery 1400 may be provided, for example, by reading an identifier element with a reader 1404 as described in connection with Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5. Upon reading the identifier for the serviced battery, material composition data and other data, such as condition data, collected during the life of the battery may be accessed via the identifier. The material composition data may be accessed via a non-central computing network. For example, the material composition data may be provided by a non-central computing node associated with a producer or user of the material.

[0158] Based on the material composition data associated with the serviced battery 1400, the battery identifiers may be sorted into packages of identifiers that may be processed together in a subsequent recycling chain. For example, the ID package generator 1406 may be configured to perform the methods described in connection with Figs. 4 and 5 to provide battery recycling data. Such data may be used to provide sorting and / or collection of the batteries by sorting and / or collection instructions, for example, as described in connection with Figs. 4 and 5. For example, the collector and / or sorter system 1402 may be configured to receive such instructions and sort and / or collect the batteries based on such instructions. In other embodiments, the reader 14040 and the ID package generator 1406 may be part of the collector and / or sorter system 1402. The batteries may be directly sorted upon reading based on the classification provided by the ID package generator 1406.

[0159] Based on the status data associated with the service-terminated battery, the battery may be discharged and / or disassembled by discharge and / or disassembly instructions. Such instructions may include analysis of status data collected during life, a service-terminated measurement protocol for collecting status data from the service-terminated battery, analysis of status data collected by the service-terminated measurement protocol, or any combination thereof. The analysis of status data collected during life may include data related to self-discharge, charge / discharge process, or status variables (e.g., cell temperature). In this manner, further processing instructions regarding the use of the battery 1400 may be identified without the need for measurements. The service-terminated measurement protocol may include measurements of capacity, power, physical or chemical properties, or resistance. Analysis of such measurement data may lead to further processing instructions regarding the use of the battery. Alternatively or additionally, such instructions may include discharge and / or disassembly instructions for a robotic system. For example, the discharger and / or disassembler system 1404 may be configured to receive such instructions and disassemble and / or discharge the battery 1400 based on such instructions.

[0160] Components of the serviced battery, such as cells, cathode elements, anode elements, electrolytes, separators or housings, may be associated with product identifiers and / or separate component identifiers. Based on the identifier package provided by the battery recycling data, transport and / or storage instructions may be generated for the battery or for the battery components to be disassembled, for example as described in connection with Figs. 4 and 5. For example, the transport and / or storage system 1406 may be configured to receive such instructions and transport and / or store the battery or components based on such instructions. The collector and / or sorter system 1402, the discharger and / or disassembler system 1404, and the transport and / or storage system 1406 may be a recycling system connected via a non-central computing network. The system may be associated with computing nodes of the non-central computing system. Each node may be configured to access or provide data in the non-central computing system.

[0161] Based on the battery recycling data associated with the battery identifier and the operational data associated with the plant identifier, the battery or battery components may be assigned to a plant identifier by providing plant assignment data as described in connection with FIGS. 6-8. The plant associated with the plant identifier may be a mechanical or chemical recycling plant. The plant assignment data may include more than one plant identifier if the recycling chain includes more than one recycling plant. For example, as shown in FIG. 15 for the cathode element, the recycling chain may include mechanical processing, followed by pyrometallurgical processing, followed by hydrometallurgical processing of the battery material provided to the production process as recycled battery material. In another option, the recycling chain may include mechanical processing, followed by hydrometallurgical processing of the battery material provided to the production process as recycled battery material. The recycling process may separately or already provide the transition metals in the desired stoichiometry for creating new materials. For example, the plant assigner 1408 may be configured to provide plant assignment data and provide such plant assignment data to the chemical / mechanical plant recycling system 1410 of the respective plant associated with the plant identifier. Based on the plant assignment data and the location data, transport and / or storage instructions may be generated by the transport and / or storage system 1406 as described herein, for example, in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. For example, the plant allocator 1406 may be configured to provide the plant assignment data and provide such plant assignment data to the production system 1416 of the respective production plant associated with the plant identifier. The plant allocator, the transport and / or storage system 1406, and the chemical / mechanical plant recycle system may be part of a non-central computing environment. Each system may be associated with a computing node of the non-central computing system to access and / or provide data in the non-central computing network.

[0162] Based on the tracked recycled material packages and recycle rate data, production data may be provided by the recycle rate allocation generator 1418. Any calculations may be performed via the computing environment. The computing environment may be based on a non-central computing architecture as described in connection with Figs. 3a-d. The collector system 1402 may include a collection mechanism for collecting the batteries or components of the battery 1400 to be recycled. The sorting system 1402 may include a mechanism for sorting the batteries or components of the battery 1400 to be recycled. The plant recycling system 1410 may include a recycling plant for recycling the batteries or components of the battery to be recycled. The output of the plant recycling system 1410 may be recycled materials suitable for use in a production plant. The recycling plant may include chemical, mechanical, thermal and / or magnetic recycling plants. The production system 1416 may include a production plant for producing batteries or components of batteries based at least in part on the recycled materials provided by the recycling plant. The input materials of the production plant may include virgin materials and recycled materials. The collector system 1404, the discharger system 1404, the transport and / or storage system 1406, the computing environment, the sorting system 1402, the production system 1416, and / or the plant recycling system 1410 may be communicatively coupled to one another. The communication may be peer-to-peer communication provided by a non-central computing environment, as described in connection with FIG. 3d. The ID package generator 1406, the plant allocator 1408, the recycle content generator 1418 may be non-central service applications or may be part of one or more computing nodes associated with the recycling system and / or the plant.

[0163] The computing environment, collector system, or sorting system 1402 may be configured to generate collection and / or sorting instructions based on the material identifier package, for example, as described in connection with Figures 4 and 5. The computing environment, collector system, sorting system 1402, production plant system 1416, or recycling plant system may be configured to generate transportation and / or storage instructions based on the material identifier package, for example, as described in connection with Figures 4 and 5.

[0164] The collector system and / or sorting system 1402 may be configured to provide the battery identifier to the computing environment. The battery identifier may be provided via an identification element as described in Figs. 1 and 2. For example, the collector system and / or sorting system 1402 may be configured to read a QR code on the battery or a component of the battery. The collector system and / or sorting system 1402 may be configured to provide location data to the computing environment. The location data may be provided by an identifier of a user terminal, such as a sensor that reads the identification element or a system that registers with the service. For example, a user accessing the service may provide the location data.

[0165] The computing environment, collector system and / or sorting system 1402 having a non-central computing node may be configured to access material data based on the provided battery identifier. The computing environment may include an ID generator configured to identify a material identifier package including a package of battery identifiers as described in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5. The computing environment, collector system and / or sorting system 1402 may be configured to provide the material identifier package for operating a recycling process. The computing environment, collector system and / or sorting system 1402 may be configured to provide collection instructions and / or sorting instructions.

[0166] For example, the computing environment or a node of the computing environment may be configured to identify collection point data representing a collection location for the battery or battery component to be recycled based on the location of the battery associated with the material identifier package. The collection instructions may include the collection location. The collection instructions may be provided to a collector system. The collection instructions may include a collection location for each package identifier or package of battery identifiers included in the material identifier package. In this way, the batteries or battery components may be collected as they are processable or processed together and no further sorting is required. The collector system 1402 may be configured to collect the batteries or battery components to be recycled, preferably by material composition. In this way, sorting of the batteries or battery components to be recycled may be performed directly at the time of collection, making a further sorting process unnecessary. The collector system 1402 may be configured to collect the batteries or battery components to be recycled and provide the battery IDs for generating the material identifier package according to the classification instructions, or provide the material identifier package to, for example, a sorting system, classify the battery IDs according to the classification instructions, and store the associated recycling data, or provide the associated recycling data, for example per material composition, to the sorting system.

[0167] Further, for example, the computing environment or a node of the computing environment may be configured to generate sorting instructions based on a set of package identifiers or battery identifiers. The sorting instructions may include a battery identifier for each package. The sorting instructions may be provided to the sorting system 1402. The sorting system may be configured to provide a product identifier for each battery or battery component to be recycled and to sort such batteries or battery components based on the provided sorting instructions. In this manner, the batteries or battery components may be sorted by reading the identification elements such that they can be processed or processed together.

[0168] The computing environment, the collector system 1402, the sorting system 1402, the production plant system 1416 or the recycling plant system 1410 may be configured to generate transport and / or storage instructions based on the material identifier package. Transport instructions may be identified based on the location data of the batteries or components to be recycled and based on a target location of the batteries or components to be recycled. The target location may be associated with a recycling plant that processes the material configuration. Storage instructions may be identified based on the capacity of the recycling plant and / or based on the number of batteries or components per package identifier or per package of battery identifiers. If the plant capacity is higher than the number of batteries or components per package to be collected for the material configuration, storage instructions may be generated. Such storage instructions may include a storage location for storing the batteries or their components until the number reaches the plant capacity.

[0169] As explained above, different variations exist for implementing the methods, apparatus, and systems described herein. Different systems may implement the method steps or service components differently. The described embodiments are examples only and should not be considered limiting.

[0170] Figure 15 shows an example of a recycling chain for cathode active materials. The example shows a battery as the end product to be recycled. This is an arbitrary selection and should not be considered limiting.

[0171] The battery comprises different parts of materials as described in FIG. 1. The recycling chain may comprise different steps and have different designs. First, the end-of-life battery may be discharged and then dismantled. The battery may be discharged and disassembled to separate the components such as the cells. The battery components may be fed into a subsequent recycling stream. For example, mechanical processing may follow. This may include mechanical crushing (shredding) of the battery cells and separation of the materials. The electrolyte residues may be removed from the active materials by drying or pyrolysis before the following process steps. The mechanical separation of the "black mass" (e.g. Co, Ni, Mn, C), conductive foils and separator parts may be carried out by a combination of grinding, drying, screening and sorting processes. The materials may be separated by their physical properties such as particle size, morphology, density, and electrical and magnetic properties. For example, foils and active materials including transition metals may be separated. Such recycled materials may be referred to as black mass.

[0172] The separated components can be fed into a subsequent recycling stream. For example, battery cells can be recycled to recover transition metals contained in the electrode elements. In particular, lithium-ion batteries contain electrode active materials that contain lithium. The recycling process can follow different process layouts depending on the material composition used in the lithium-ion battery cells. The recycled material from the mechanical recycling can be further processed by pyrometallurgy and / or hydrometallurgy. For example, depending on the composition of the recycled material, pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy or a combination of both can be used. One process design can be based on pyrometallurgical processing of the battery scrap material followed by hydrometallurgical processing. Another process design can be based on direct hydrometallurgical processing of the battery material. Such processes transition metals separately or already in the desired stoichiometry to create new cathode active materials.

[0173] Based on the virtual packaging of the battery with the material composition via the battery identifier, the material composition of the recycled material may be tracked. Furthermore, the composition of the recycled material may be identified by classifying the battery identifier based on the associated material composition. In this way, the composition of the recycled material may be adapted for subsequent recycling process steps. Furthermore, such tracking of the recycled material may be performed up to the recycler, where tracking may be used, for example, to track the availability of the recycler or the recycler composition. A decentralized computing environment that provides access to specific material data via the identifier enables reliable and efficient operation throughout the recycling process from end-of-life products to the recycler that may be reused in the production of new materials.

[0174] FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram of a method for providing a recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of a product.

[0175] Recycling data may be provided that is associated with the use of recycled precursor materials in the production of at least one component of a product. The recycling data may indicate a recycled feed content for at least one component of a product. The recycled feed content may identify a total recycled feed content for the component or a recycled feed content per precursor. The recycling data may include a recycled amount or quota for one or more precursor products.

[0176] For the example battery, for an electrode active material of a lithium ion battery, a specific recycled amount or quota may be provided for a specific precursor, such as metals like cobalt, lithium, copper or nickel. Additionally or alternatively, a total recycled feedstock content for at least one component of the product may be provided. For the example battery, for a lithium ion battery, a total recycled amount or percentage may be provided independent of the precursor. Such total amount or percentage may relate to an individual component, a combination of components or all components. For the example battery, for a lithium ion battery, the total amount or percentage may relate to an electrode element including the electrode active material, an anode element including the anode active material, a cell having that component or a battery having that component. The recycling data may specify, for example, that 20% of the copper is recycled copper, 10% of the lithium is recycled lithium, and 12% of the nickel is recycled nickel. The recycling data may specify, for example, that 15% or 20% of the transition metal is recycled transition metal. The recycling data may specify, for example, that 30% of the material used to produce the component is recycled material. 20 illustrates one embodiment of a user interface for entering recycling quotas. In other embodiments, such data may be provided through an application programming interface or any other service that provides such data.

[0177] Operational data associated with at least one operational characteristic of at least one production plant may be accessed and provided. Such operational data may relate to the availability of one or more recycled precursors for producing at least one component of a product. For example, the availability may be derived from a recycled material identifier including a recycle package identifier associated with an amount of recycled precursor available from a recycling process from different recycled precursor storage levels or an identifier associated with an amount recycled and available from a recycling process. Such availability data may be further associated with the plant. For example, a particular material may be available to the production plant in the vicinity of the plant, such as within an area of ​​a few hundred kilometers or less. Other examples of operational data may include capacity data indicative of the current capacity of the production plant, process data indicative of process details of the production plant, performance data indicative of performance details of the production plant, or emissions data associated with the production plant.

[0178] Based on the recycle data and the operational data, a recycle feed content for one or more recycled precursors can be identified. The recycle feed content for one or more precursors can be identified according to a recycle amount for one or more precursor products, a recycle quota for one or more precursor products, and / or a total recycle feed content for at least one component of the product being manufactured. For example, if a recycle amount or quota is provided, the minimum recycle feed content can correspond to the recycle amount or quota.

[0179] Further operational data may be taken into account to identify the recycler feed content for one or more recycled precursors. The operational data may include availability data derived from the identifiers. The availability data may represent the amount of recycled material available from the recycling process. Such amount may be derived from the identifiers and material tracking as disclosed herein, such as in Figs. 1-15. Advantageously, the recycler package identifier associated with the amount of recycled precursor available from the recycling process or the recycled material identifier including the product or component identifier associated with the amount recycled and available from the recycling process can be easily accessed in a non-central computing environment, enabling a connection between the recycler feed content for production and the recycled material from the recycling process. In this way, a reliable and environmentally friendly management of material resources combined with physical recycling and production can be achieved, which is particularly advantageous in a distributed system of material flows, recycling plants and production plants.

[0180] For example, if precursor availability data is provided, the recycle feed content for those precursors with high availability can be increased compared to the recycle amount or quota. In this way, the recycle feed content and production can be adjusted to match the recycle feed content. Further, for example, if a total amount or quota is provided, the recycle feed content can be distributed across the different precursors. If precursor availability data is provided, the recycle feed content for those precursors with high availability can be increased compared to the recycle feed content for precursors with lower availability. In this way, the recycle feed content and production can be adjusted to match the recycle feed content.

[0181] As an example in a battery example, specifying the recycle feedstock content may relate to a process for making an electrode active material for a lithium-ion battery. In such a process, a precursor may first be formed by co-precipitating a transition metal as a carbonate, oxide, or preferably a hydroxide that may or may not be basic. A process for making particulate (oxy)hydroxides of transition metals is described, for example, in WO2021244963A1, which is incorporated herein by reference. The particulate (oxy)hydroxides may serve as precursors for electrode active materials and may therefore be referred to as precursors. The formation of a transition metal-based precursor may include recycled transition metals provided according to the specified recycle feedstock content for the transition metal precursor. The transition metal-based precursor may then be mixed with a precursor source of lithium, such as, but not limited to, LiOH, Li2O, or Li2CO3, and calcined at high temperature or (calcined). The process for making the electrode is described, for example, in WO 2020 / 069882 A1, which is incorporated herein by reference, and the lithium salt can be used as a hydrate or in a dehydrated form. The calcination or firing, also commonly referred to as temperature treatment or heat treatment of the precursor, can be carried out at a temperature in the range of 600-1000° C. During the heat treatment, a solid-state reaction occurs and the electrode active material is formed. The lithium-containing precursor can include recycled lithium or a precursor formed from recycled lithium. The recycled lithium or a precursor formed from recycled lithium can be provided according to the recycled feedstock content for such precursor.

[0182] The identified recycle feed content of one or more recycled precursors for the manufacture of at least one component of the product may be provided to generate instructions for operating the production plant. For example, instructions for monitoring and / or controlling the product feed based on the composition of the components and the recycle feed content per precursor may be generated and provided to an operating system of the production plant. Apart from the feeding, further operating instructions may be generated and provided to monitor and / or control the operation of the production plant. Such further instructions may include different operating parameters depending on the feed composition or the recycle feed content. The operating plant may be operated based on the provided instructions for monitoring and / or controlling the operation of the production plant.

[0183] FIG. 17 illustrates another example of a method for providing recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of a product based on availability data, optionally including selection of a production plant.

[0184] The recycle rate feedstock content may be specified, for example, according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 16. The recycle quota per precursor for the product or component to be produced may be provided, for example, via a user interface as shown in FIG. 20. For the example of a battery, this may include a recycle quota for the metal components contained in the electrode active material. Such a recycle quota may be verified by accessing a regulatory database. It may be checked whether the recycle quota is regulated. If the recycle quota is regulated, it may be checked whether the provided recycle quota complies with the regulated recycle quota. If the recycle quota does not comply with the regulatory requirements, it may be adapted accordingly. For example, the regulated recycle quota may be used.

[0185] In this example, a precursor identifier and availability data may be provided to identify the recycle feedstock content. The precursor identifier may be associated with at least one precursor and an amount of recycled precursor available. The precursor identifier may be associated with an amount of recycled precursor available. The precursor identifier may be associated with a recycled material identifier or may be derived from a product or component identifier and tracking in a recycling process, for example as described herein in connection with Figures 1-15. Identification of the recycle feedstock content may be performed by matching the provided recycling quota per precursor with the availability data per precursor. Such matching may be performed per precursor as described in connection with Figure 16 and may take into account the adapted recycling quota per precursor based on regulatory checks, as described above.

[0186] Additionally, capacity data relating to production capacity for one or more production plants, process data relating to process details of one or more production plants, performance data relating to performance characteristics of one or more production plants, and / or emissions data relating to emissions for producing at least one component of the product may be provided. The emissions data may include precursor materials and emissions from at least one production plant for producing the component or product. The emissions data may include at least one emissions target for the use of precursors in the production of the at least one component or product. The emissions data may include a total emissions target for producing the at least one component or product. The emissions target may be provided, for example, via a user interface as shown in FIG. 22. Here, other emissions such as total emissions, production emissions, and transportation emissions may be provided by the user. In other embodiments, such data may be provided through an application programming interface or any other service that provides such data.

[0187] Based on the capacity data and / or the emission data, a plant may be selected to process the recycle and produce at least one component using the recycle feed content. Selecting a production plant to produce a component may depend on the identified recycle feed content in combination with process data and / or capacity data that identifies whether the plant is suitable to process the recycle. Selecting a production plant to produce a component may also depend on the emission data and / or the performance data. A production plant that meets at least one emission target for using the precursor and / or a total emission target for producing at least one component may be selected. The selection of the production plant may be based on a multi-dimensional metric that defines a distance and / or a threshold measurement. The distance and / or threshold measurement may be identified from the identified recycle feed content for the process data and / or capacity data, the recycle feed content for the at least one emission target for using the precursor and / or the total emission target for producing at least one component.

[0188] Furthermore, based on the process data, for example, with the composition of the recyclate tracked via an identifier across the recycling chain, the process details of the plant can be matched with the process details required for the recyclate composition. For the battery example, in the case of an electrode active material, the recyclate can be available with the desired stoichiometry required to produce the electrode active material, or the transition metal recyclate can be available separately. In such a case, the recyclate with the desired stoichiometry can be selected in combination with a suitable plant that produces the electrode active material from such a recyclate. For the battery example, the plant can be an electrode active material production plant or a cathode active material (CAM) plant for processing transition metal carbonates, oxides or hydroxides as precursors. If only transition metal recyclates are available, another suitable plant that produces the electrode active material or the cathode active material from such a recyclate can be selected. For the battery example, the plant can be a precursor electrode active material production plant or a precursor cathode active material (PCAM) plant for processing transition metals as precursors.

[0189] Operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the production system, such as the precursor feed of at least one virgin precursor and / or at least one recycled precursor, can be generated and provided. Further operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the operation of the selected plant can be identified, for example, based on the identified recycle feed content, emission targets, performance data and the selected manufacturing plant. The operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the operation of the selected plant can be provided to the production system. The production plant can be operated based on such operating instructions.

[0190] Figure 18 shows another example of a method for providing recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of a product, including a chemical performance check. A corresponding user interface is shown for illustrative purposes in Figure 21, where chemical performance and associated parameters may be displayed.

[0191] The recycle feedstock content may be specified, for example, as described in connection with Figs. 16 and 17. For such specification, the recycle content for the component or per precursor may be provided. In addition, target performance parameters for the component may be provided. The recycle data may include the recycle content and the target performance parameters associated with the expected performance of the produced component. The target performance parameters may relate to at least one component or at least one component related to other components. For the example battery, the performance of the electrode active material or the anode active material may be provided. For a lithium-ion battery, such performance parameters may relate to energy density, charge density, degradation behavior, capacity, etc. The target performance parameters may be provided, for example, via a user interface as shown in Fig. 22. For the example battery, the charge density, capacity, and degradation may be provided by the user. In other embodiments, such data may be provided through an application programming interface or any other service that provides such data.

[0192] In addition, availability data for each recycled precursor may be accessed and provided. The recycled feed content may be determined, for example, as described in connection with Figures 16 and 17. Determining the recycled feed content may include determining a chemical performance associated with a component manufactured by using the recycled feed content. From the determined recycled feed content of one or more precursors, a chemical composition of at least one component may be determined, taking into account the virgin and recycled feed content. For such composition, a chemical performance of at least one component manufactured may be determined. For the example of a battery, the energy density or capacity resulting from the chemical composition of the electrode or anode active material may be determined based on a first principles model, a data-driven model, or a combination of both.

[0193] Thus, based on the identified recycled feed content, chemical performance parameters associated with a component produced in response to the identified recycled feed content can be identified, which can be compared to the provided target performance parameters to identify whether the component produced using the feed composition meets the required chemical performance.

[0194] If the chemical performance is met for the identified recycle feed content, operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the production system, such as the precursor feed of at least one virgin precursor and / or at least one recycled precursor, can be generated and provided. Further operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the operation of the selected plant can be identified, for example, based on the identified recycle feed content, the emission target, the performance data and the selected manufacturing plant. Operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the operation of the selected plant can be provided to the production system. The production plant can be operated based on such operating instructions.

[0195] FIG. 19 illustrates another example of a method for providing recycle feedstock content for producing at least one component of a product, including an emission target check and optional plant selection.

[0196] The recycle feedstock content may be identified and provided, for example, as described in connection with Figures 16, 17, and 18. Optionally, a plant for processing the recycle may be selected based on emission targets and capacity data, for example, as described in connection with Figures 16 and 17. From such a selection, emissions for the precursor material and the selected production plant may be identified to check that emission targets are met.

[0197] If the emission targets are not met, the recycle feed content may be re-specified based on the total emission target, or the recycle feed content may be specified based on at least one emission target for the precursor use. Optionally, a different plant may be selected.

[0198] If the emission target is met, operating instructions for controlling the precursor supply of at least one virgin precursor and / or at least one recycled precursor can be generated based on the identified recycle feed content and / or the selected production plant. For example, operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the precursor supply of at least one virgin precursor and / or at least one recycled precursor can be provided. Further operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the operation of the selected plant can be identified based on the identified recycle feed content and the selected production plant. The operating instructions for controlling and / or monitoring the operation of the selected plant can be provided, for example, to a production system. The production plant can be controlled and / or monitored according to the operating instructions.

[0199] The present disclosure has been described by way of example in conjunction with the embodiments. However, those skilled in the art and those practicing the claimed invention will be able to understand and implement other variations upon studying the drawings, the disclosure, and the claims. In particular, any steps specifically presented may be performed in any order, i.e., the invention is not limited to a particular order of these steps. Furthermore, it is not required that different steps are performed at a particular location or at one node of a distributed system. In other words, each of the steps may be performed at different nodes using different equipment / data processing units.

[0200] As used herein, "identifying" also includes "initiating or causing to identify," "generating," "querying," "accessing," "correlating," and "matching," "selecting" also includes "initiating or causing to generate, access, query, correlate, select, and / or match," and "providing" also includes "initiating or causing to identify, generate, access, query, correlate, select, and / or match, transmit, and / or receive." "Initiating or causing an action" includes any process signal that triggers a computing node to perform the respective action.

[0201] In the claims and in this specification, the terms "comprise" or "comprise" do not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite articles "a" or "an" do not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage in implementations.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a computer to operate a recycling process for processing recycled materials, - A step of providing one or more recycled material identifiers associated with the recycled material and corresponding recycled material data, - A step of identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, provided by the recycled material data. - Providing plant allocation data including at least one plant identifier and associated recycled material identifiers, - A step of operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants. A method that includes this.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recycled material includes a material provided by recycling a product or at least a component of a product.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recycled material identifier relates to one or more material identifier packages that associate product identifiers according to at least one material composition that is processable or processed by at least one recycling plant.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recycled material identifier relates to one or more product identifiers of products recycled to provide the recycled material and corresponding material composition data.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recycled material identifier relates to a material identifier package associated with the recycled material and corresponding material composition data.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing operating data associated with at least one operating characteristic of the plant, wherein identifying the at least one plant identifier includes, based on the operating data, selecting the plant identifier associated with a plant suitable for processing the recycled material data and / or the recycled material associated with the recycled material identifier.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one plant identifier includes classification by a classification command that provides material processing data associated with one or more material components that can or are processed by at least one plant.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one plant identifier includes matching the one or more recycled material identifiers with the at least one plant identifier based on quantity data relating to the amount of recycled material and plant capacity data relating to the capacity of at least one plant.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one plant identifier involves matching the at least one recycled material identifier with the at least one plant identifier based on process data associated with one or more recycling processes and / or material processing data associated with at least one material composition that can be processed or is processed by the at least one plant.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recycled material data associated with the recycled material is provided by a decentralized computing node associated with one or more recycling systems, and the operational data is provided by a decentralized computing node associated with one or more plants and / or one or more recycling systems.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a transport and / or storage order based on plant allocation data.

12. An apparatus for operating a recycling process for processing recycled materials, comprising one or more computing nodes and one or more computer-readable media, which, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, the apparatus, - A step of providing one or more recycled material identifiers associated with the recycled material and corresponding recycled material data, - A step of identifying at least one plant identifier associated with a plant for processing the recycled material, provided by the recycled material data. - Providing plant allocation data including at least one plant identifier and associated recycled material identifiers, - A step of operating the recycling process by providing plant allocation data for controlling and / or monitoring one or more plants. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions configured to perform the following actions A device that includes this.

13. Use of recycled material, which is associated with at least one recycled material identifier in the method according to claim 1 or with the apparatus according to claim 12.

14. Use of plant allocation data provided by the method of claim 1 or by the apparatus of claim 12 for transporting, storing and / or recycling recycled material provided by recycling at least one component of a battery.

15. A computer program having instructions configured to perform, when executed by a computing device in a computing environment (145), a step of the method according to claim 1 or a step provided by the apparatus according to claim 12.

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