Stuttgart-based automaker Mercedes-Benz officially opened its own battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, near Karlsruhe, on Monday with a ceremony attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This pilot project is "Europe’s first battery recycling plant with an integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process," the company said. Mercedes-Benz says it will therefore be the first car manufacturer to close the battery materials loop with its own facility covering all steps from shredding the battery modules to drying and processing active battery materials.
The company said it had invested "tens of millions of euros" in the pilot plant, which has an annual processing capacity of 2,500 tonnes and should achieve a recovery rate of more than 96 per cent. The recycled materials will be used in the production of 50,000 new battery modules annually.
From the laying of the foundation stone to the official opening, construction of the recycling plant took 1.5 years. The speed with which the project had been completed underlines the company’s determination to play a pioneering role in battery recycling, commented Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius.
The German automaker was working intensively to decouple its growth from resource consumption, especially when it comes to the use of valuable and limited resources, Mr Källenius said. The company says it takes a “holistic approach to the circularity of battery systems", which is also financially advantageous.
Chancellor Scholz also stressed that the circular economy is important not just for environmental reasons but also for its economic benefits. "The future of the automobile is electric" and Germany, as an economy in which the auto industry plays a key role must "remain a cutting-edge market for new and innovative technologies", Mr Scholz said.
Mercedes-Benz's technology partner Primobius made a significant contribution to the realization of the Kuppenheim pilot project. The joint venture between Australian battery producer Neometals and German plant builder SMS group was responsible for the engineering, and both supplied and installed the two-stage recycling plant under a contract worth €18.8m.
Chris Reed, managing director of Neometals, described the plant opening in Kuppenheim as a "vital milestone" in a press release and stressed that the collaboration with Mercedes would be continued: In 2022, the firm entered into a five-year research collaboration with the German automotive concern under which it is to develop a tailored, industrial-scale recycling lithium-ion battery recycling solution for Mercedes.
