Mercedes-Benz to recycle 96% of their EV batteries

Mercedes-Benz have become the first car manufacturer in the world to have its own battery recycling plant, having opened a new state-of-the-art plant in Kuppenheim, Germany.

Batteries will be recycled using an innovative mechanical-hydrometallurgical process which differs from the usual pyrometallurgy process by consuming less energy and wasting less material.

The company has invested tens of millions of euros in the plant which will be able to cover all steps of the recycling process, from shredding battery modules to processing battery materials, with as expected recovery rate of more than 96%.

Of particular significance is the ability to recover scarce raw materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt in a way in which they will be suitable for use in new batteries for future all-electric Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The EU has ruled that from 1 January 2030, EV batteries must contain a minimum of reclaimed material, with 4% of all lithium used having been recycled, so Mercedes are well ahead of the game in this respect. 

To begin with plastics, copper, aluminium and iron are separated in a complex, multi-stage process.

The hydrometallurgical process then addresses the black mass which is the end product of  the batteries being crushed and shredded. This is the point at which the valuable metals are extracted individually in a multi-stage chemical process.

The recycling plant has an annual capacity of 2,500 tonnes and the recovered materials will feed into the production of more than 50,000 battery modules for new all-electric Mercedes-Benz models. The company believe that the knowledge gained here could help scale up production volumes in the medium to long term.

The plant has received funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of a scientific research project with three German universities. The project looks at the entire process chain for recycling, including logistics and reintegration concepts.

At the opening of the plant Olaf Scholz, the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany said: ‘The future of the automobile is electric, and batteries are an essential component of this.

‘To produce batteries in a resource-conserving and sustainable way, recycling is also key. The circular economy is a growth engine and, at the same time, an essential building block for achieving our climate targets! I congratulate Mercedes-Benz for its courage and foresight shown by this investment in Kuppenheim. Germany remains a cutting-edge market for new and innovative technologies.’