ROME Franco-Italian automaker Stellantis said on Tuesday it planned a joint venture with French nuclear fuels firm Orano to recycle used electric vehicle batteries and scrap from gigafactories.

The two companies said in a statement that they had signed a memorandum of understanding leading to the joint venture, subject to agreement on definitive documentation.

The deal will give Stellantis, parent company of brands including Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep, additional access to the cobalt, nickel and lithium necessary for electrification and the energy transition, the statement said.

It said Orano's technology allows the recovery of all materials used in lithium-ion batteries, with recovery rates of metals that can go above 90%, and the manufacturing of new cathode materials.

The joint venture will produce materials also known as 'black mass' or 'active mass', to be refined in a new plant in Dunkirk, France, so that the materials can be re-used in batteries, "thus closing the loop of a circular economy".

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gianluca Semeraro, Kirsten Donovan)