8 to 9 October 2025

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Chances & Challenges – Europe’s Lithium Industry In A Changing World

The LithiumDays 2025 conference will explore the dynamic landscape of Europe’s lithium industry amid global market transformations. Despite electric vehicle sales falling below earlier projections, steady growth continues alongside a rapidly expanding energy storage systems market. With lithium prices returning to mid-2020 levels and market conditions expected to tighten in 2025 due to production cuts and improving demand after years of oversupply, the industry faces both opportunities and uncertainties.

The conference will examine regional disparities within Europe, contrasting German economic stagnation with Spain’s ambitious expansions in lithium extraction and battery production. We’ll address how geopolitical tensions, trade disputes, and tariffs are reshaping supply chains and market dynamics.

Recycling technologies and circular economy approaches will feature prominently as Europe seeks to reduce import dependencies and meet sustainability goals. Investment opportunities vary significantly by region, requiring nuanced strategies for stakeholders across the value chain.

We are pleased to announce Morocco as our 2025 partner country, highlighting North Africa’s emerging role in the lithium battery value chain and potential synergies with European markets.

Join industry leaders, policymakers, and researchers in Hamburg as we navigate the complex future of Europe’s lithium industry.

Get your ticket for LithiumDays 2025

NOTE: Accommodation costs are not included in the ticket price. Please book your hotel individually if required.

NOTE: Accommodation costs are not included in the ticket price. Please book your hotel individually if required.

Schedule
(Download as PDF)

08:00 h (CET) | Registration

08:30 h | Welcome & Opening Speeches

  • Prof Dr Ralf Wehrspohn (ITEL– Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium)
  • Stefan Schnabel, HELM AG
  • Andreas Heilmann, ITEL Chairman
  • N.N., Hamburg Chamber of Commerce

SESSION 1 – LITHIUM RECYCLING
Chair: Cornelius Gantz (ITEL – Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium)

09:15 h | Dr Lilian Schwich (cylib GmbH): Topic tba.

09:35 h | Dr Katrin Wessels (HELM AG): Topic tba.

09:55 h | Prof Dr Michael Rutz (Hochschule Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences): LFP recycling

10:15 h | Panel discussion

11:00 h | +++ Coffee break +++

SESSION 2 – BY-PRODUCT VALORIZATION

11:30 h | N.N.: Topic tba.

11:50 h | Prof Dr Daniel Vollprecht (Augsburg University): Mineralogy meets waste management – Case studies from critical metal recovery from industrial wastewaters to froth flotation of lithium ion battery slags

12:10 h | Dr Maria Gaudig, Dr Andreas Neumann (ITEL – Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium): Carbon sink potential of metal processing by-products for negative emission strategies

12:30 h | Panel discussion

13:30 h | +++ Lunch break +++

SESSION 3 – LITHIUM EXTRACTION AND REFINING
Richard Schalinski (ITEL – Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium)

14:30 h | N.N. (Cornish Lithium Plc): Lithium extraction from rock and from geothermal waters

14:50 h | Dr Claudia Pudack (KBR): KBR’s Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology

15:10 h | N.N. (Zinnwald Lithium Plc): Zinnwald pre-feasibility study

15:30 h | Christian Melches (GEA Group): Battery recycling – the colorful co-crystallization of battery related compounds

15:50 h | +++ Coffee break +++

16:15 h | Dr Stefan Scherer (AMG Lithium GmbH): Expansion of the Bitterfeld refinery and new projects

16:35 h | Panel discussion

17:20 h | +++ End of conference +++

18:00 h | Transfer to the conference dinner in Hamburg-Sasel, Park-House, via bus shuttle
19:00 h | Conference Dinner

Excursion: Aurubis AG with guided tour „The path of copper“ (optional, registration required)

07:30 h (CET) | Bus transfer to Aurubis
Departure punctually at 7:30 am at the back of the HELM building, Albertstraße, 20097 Hamburg

08:00 h | Guided tour Aurubis AG
10:00 h | Return to HELM Conference Center
10:30 h | Arrival at HELM Conference Center & Coffee break

 

SESSION 4 – LAW, POLITICS AND STRATEGY

11:00 h | N.N. (International Lithium Association – ILiA): REACH lithium

11:20 h | Dr Xiaohan Wu (Porsche Consulting): Strategic pathways for EU midstream: Competing globally, collaborating regionally

11:40 h | N.N.: Topic tba.

12:00 h | +++ Coffee break +++

12:30 h | Panel discussion

13:30 h | +++ Lunch break +++

 

SESSION 5 – INVEST IN MOROCCO
Chair: Prof Dr Ralf Wehrspohn (ITEL – Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium)

14:30 h | H.E. Zohour Alaoui (Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Germany): Speech

14:45 h | Karim Zidane (Ministry of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, Morocco – MICEPP): Welcome address

15:00 h | N.N. (OCP Group): LFP recycling

15:20 h | Marc Sonveaux (Prayon Technologies): From waste to inventory: How the fertilizer industry manages phosphogypsum

15:40 h | Panel discussion

 

Summary & Outlook

16:30 h | Summary LithiumDays 2025; Introduction guest country 2026; Announcement and presentation of certificates to new ITEL sponsoring members and ITEL fellows

17:00 h | +++ End of conference +++

 

INVEST IN MOROCCO NETWORKING EVENING (optional, registration required)
Venue: Courtyard Hotel Hamburg City, Adenauerallee 52, 20097 Hamburg, 10 minutes’ walk from the conference venue

18:00 – 21:00 h | Drinks, dinner, networking

Call for Papers

Present your scientific poster contribution on the topic “Chances & Challenges – Europe’s Lithium Industry In A Changing World” at LithiumDays 2025!
Send us your abstract by 1 July 2025.

Speakers 2025

Prof Dr Dr h.c.
Ulrich Blum

Co-CEO ITEL; Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Prof Dr Ralf B. Wehrspohn

Co-CEO ITEL; Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Karim Zidane

MICEPP – Ministry of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, Morocco

Dr Lilian Schwich

cylib GmbH

Dr Katrin Wessels

HELM AG

Prof Dr Daniel Vollprecht

Augsburg University

Marc Sonveaux

Prayon Technologies

Dr Xiaohan Wu

Porsche Consulting

Dr Maria Gaudig

ITEL – Deutsches Lithiuminstitut GmbH

Dr Andreas Neumann

ITEL – Deutsches Lithiuminstitut GmbH

Dr Claudia Pudack

KBR

Christian Melches

GEA Group

About the conference venue

HELM AG, Conference Center, Nordkanalstrasse 28, 20097 Hamburg, Germany

In 2025, LithiumDays will take place in Hamburg, at the conference center of HELM AG, partner of the ITEL – German Lithium Institute. The conference venue is centrally located in the Hammerbrook district, close to the Central Station, and is therefore easily accessible by public transport.

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Parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of the conference venue are very limited. We recommend parking your car at your hotel and travelling to the conference location by public transport.

Discover Hamburg

Welcome to the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg! With its mixture of maritime flair, historic world heritage and Hanseatic understatement, the metropolis on the River Elbe offers a variety of cultural attractions. Discover HafenCity, Speicherstadt, St. Pauli and more on a walk, a city tour or a harbour tour.

Review on LithiumDays 2024

For the fourth time, the ITEL – Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium in cooperation with Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg invited experts from business, science and industry to the LithiumDays. The 2024 edition on 26 and 27 November was held on the topic of “Circular Lithium Economy – Bridging the Knowledge Gap”. At the invitation of ITEL shareholder Knauf Gips KG, the international conference was hosted for the first time in the town of Iphofen in Franconia, where Knauf is based. The two days of the conference offered around 80 participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and perspectives on how to successfully link technological and economic facts in the context of a lithium economy in numerous lectures, panel discussions and poster presentations, both on site and online.

Session 1 | Risk Management for Lithium as Critical Material 

The first session of LithiumDays 2024 highlighted the risks, opportunities and political challenges of the lithium industry. In his keynote speech “Lithium 2030 – Changing Landscape Europe”, Michael Schmidt (DERA) emphasised the need for greater European self-sufficiency in order to reduce geopolitical dependencies, particularly on China. He emphasised the environmental impact of current lithium extraction and called for sustainable prices and measures to conserve resources.

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