Battery recycling is moving into a phase where compliance, cost, and operability increasingly determine competitiveness. The EU Battery Regulation sets binding targets for collection, recycling efficiency, material recovery, and minimum recycled content, raising expectations for high‑yield, high‑purity recovery routes. At the same time, industrial hydrometallurgical refining can be burdened by chemicals / auxiliary substances and large secondary waste streams, leading to high OPEX and permitting friction. In this talk, TNO introduces an electrified hydrometallurgical process for Li‑ion battery recycling that uses electrochemistry to control redox chemistry and enable reagent regeneration coined as an “electrifying the refinery step” rather than adding another chemical unit operation. We showcase electro‑leaching as an approach that aims to reduce acid and peroxide demand and to limit sulfate‑salt by‑products, while keeping the value proposition focused on industrial deployment. As such, the process leads to lower OPEX, highly reduced environmental impacts and easier permitting processes.