Recycling & Waste Management
Mercedes-Benz Opens First EV Battery Recycling Plant
The state-of-the-art facility in the southwestern German town of Kuppenheim will reclaim valuable raw materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt.
Oct 21, 2024
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the inauguration of the plant, underscoring the importance of the project.
Mercedes says that the facility will operate on a CO2-neutral basis and will be able to recover up to 96 percent of raw materials from old electric vehicle batteries. Reclaimed materials will be sufficient in quality to build new batteries, the company added.
The plant will also recover enough material in quantity to produce 50,000 batteries a year.
“By opening the first mechanical and hydro-metallurgic recycling plant in Europe, we’ve achieved a significant milestone on the path to greater sustainability in our use of raw materials,” said Mercedes-Benz group chairman of the board Ola Källenius. “Together with our business and scientific partners, we’re showing that innovation and sustainability go hand in hand in advancing the electromobility of the future.”
24 percent of all lithium-ion batteries in Germany are recycled – more than in the US or Asia.
EV batteries have a life span of up to 15 years. The Fraunhofer Institute predicts that as of 2030 an estimated 420,000 tons of old batteries will need recycling every year in Europe alone.
