Mercedes starts work on battery recycling factory in Germany

The battery recycling sector will play an increasingly important role in the future with the spread of electric cars. Several car manufacturers have also started investing directly in this field. And just about that, Mercedes announced that it has started the construction of a battery recycling plant for electric and Plug-in cars within the Kuppenheim industrial sitein Germany.

Once completed and fully operational, it will be able to recycle up to 2,500 tonnes of accumulators each year. The recovered material will be reused and, according to the German brand, will make it possible to build 50,000 new battery modules every year. If the results of the plant’s activities are positive, Mercedes says that the factory’s recycling capacity can be expanded over time.

The project for the battery recycling plant envisages various progress indicators. Mercedes informs that towards the end of the year it will already be possible to start the activities of mechanical dismantling of electric vehicle batteries. A few months later, once the necessary permits have been obtained, it will be built a hydrometallurgy pilot plant. Mercedes will use a process with chemical solvents which will allow the recovery of raw materials to be reused for the construction of new accumulators.

According to the automaker, the recycling process it will use will allow it to go to recover 96% of the materials valuable components that make up the batteries. In the future, this factory will cover every stage of the battery recycling process: from module-level dismantling to the processing of battery materials.

The project of this battery recycling factory was welcomed by the local authorities who appreciated the fact that the car manufacturer is carrying out projects related to the circular economy, especially with a view to a greater demand for raw materials such as lithium , cobalt or nickel. Thekla Walker MdL, Minister of the Environment of Baden-Württemberg, points out that thanks to the activities of battery recycling plants, such as this one by Mercedes, it will be possible to reduce the dependence on other countries for the supply of raw materials for the construction of accumulators .

Crises such as the pandemic or the war in Ukraine have clearly demonstrated our dependence on supply chains and raw materials. Greater recycling capacity can help reduce this dependence on critical raw materials and thus strengthen the resilience of the economy. In this sense, the issue of battery recycling is very topical and also of strategic interest.