A research team from the University of Brescia and the National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology (INSTM) has developed and patented a method that uses an improved carbothermic reaction in black masses to extract lithium from spent batteries and other kind of waste, using only a water solution. The Proof-of-Concept project will focus on observing the variables of the carbothermic process to understand the performance on a larger scale and predict the function of cost growth for industrial scale plants.