The recycling and waste management group Prezero and automaker BMW have signed a strategic cooperation agreement for end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling. The objective of the joint initiative is to "develop a viable business model for an innovative materials and recycling loop, systematically using end-of-life vehicles as a strategic source of materials," the partners said. The agreement was signed on 5 February at the IPAI (Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence) campus currently under construction by Prezero’s parent company Schwarz Group in Heilbronn, Germany.
According to the partners, the cooperation will take a holistic approach to ELV recovery, covering "reuse" and "recycle": Initially, vehicle components would be kept in the loop for as long as possible through continued use. As a next step, "innovative recycling processes" would recover more high-quality recycled materials and raw materials, such as steel, aluminium, textiles, plastics and precious metals, the companies said. In this way, the partners want to, reduce dependence on raw materials and make supply chains more resilient.
Carsten Dülfer, CEO of Prezero Germany, told EUWID in an interview that this collaboration with BMW is envisaged as a long-term cooperative partnership. Starting in February, both companies will form teams that will work together in Munich.
Objective is to develop a "reverse factory"
A key part of the planned cooperation is the development of a "reverse factory" concept for ELVs, according to Mr Dülfer. This is to include partially or fully automated dismantling, similar to assembly lines in automotive production, which would enable vehicles to be scrapped on an industrial scale. Such a solution would be unique and the concept and technological implementation would require support from further partners and/or suppliers, he explained.
A key factor behind the BMW/Prezero joint initiative is the current revision of the EU’s ELV Regulation, which will create entirely new requirements and challenges for the automotive sector, according to Mr Dülfer. The Prezero executive expects that far more ELVs will need to be recycled in Germany as exporting scrap vehicles will become more difficult and less economically attractive. "We anticipate that the number of ELVs treated within Germany will rise by at least a factor of four or five. We are therefore pursuing an industrial solution to recycle vehicles on this scale," Mr Dülfer said. The solution will not be specific to Germany and should be implementable internationally as well, he added.
Knowledge transfer a core element
Within collaboration framework, the partners want to jointly test innovative and efficient recycling processes for ELVs and bring them to series maturity, while also developing new approaches to material flow management. Knowledge transfer will be a core element: In addition to its materials and manufacturing expertise, the BMW Group will contribute its "design for recycling" know-how and insights gained from the recycling of ELVs at its in-house Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDC) in Unterschleißheim near Munich.
Prezero will share its expert knowledge of European material flows and sorting technologies, according to the press release. In conversation with EUWID, Mr Dülfer pointed to the investments his group had made in recent years in the areas of plastics, textiles, aluminium and battery recycling. Prezero had thus already positioned itself with regard to the individual material streams from ELV recycling and now the task was to embed these competencies in the targeted industrial-scale recovery solution, he said.
Carsten Dülfer: "Electromobility will be the technology of the future"
The Prezero executive particularly emphasised the company’s leading role in battery recycling and black mass processing. Following its takeover of Relion Bat Circular in August 2025, Prezero now operates what it describes as Europe’s largest operational battery recycling plant. The facility in Meppen in northwestern Germany has the technical capacity to process 30,000 tpa of lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles and power tools. According to Mr Dülfer, the plant is still ramping up but should reach a throughput of as much as 20,000 tonnes this year.
The Prezero executive believes that the suspensions and postponement of other battery recycling plant projects has more to do with technical problems than market-related factors. In his view, regardless of the debate about phasing out internal combustion engines, electromobility is the technology of the future. He therefore expects arisings of spent EV batteries to continue to grow in the coming years. In preparation for this future market, the company has plans to double its treatment capacity in Meppen. The current operating permit allows a second identical line to be installed at the same site.
BMW: Milestone on the road to establishing a circular economy business model
The Munich-based automaker says the partnership with the Schwartz group subsidiary is "integral to the BMW group’s corporate and decarbonisation strategy." Ralf Hattler, senior vice president customer support and Aftersales at BMW Group, commented: “The collaboration with Prezero is another milestone on the road to establishing the circular economy as a genuine business model. For the BMW group, circularity is already a central element of our corporate strategy and a key driver of CO2 reduction and resource efficiency."
