Mercedes-Benz just opened Europe’s first battery recycling plant using an innovative process that the automaker says enables recycling rate to more than 96%, all in-house and ready to be used in future Mercedes EVs.
Opening in Kuppenheim, in southern Germany, the plant uses an integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process that can also process the so-called black mass, which Mercedes says makes it the first carmaker to close the battery recycling loop with its own in-house facility. The plant, which has been testing the process for more than a year, recovers valuable and scarce raw materials, such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, which the company then plans to use in future EVs.
How the concept works is that the plant covers all steps from shredding battery modules to drying and processing active battery materials, and sorting and separating plastics, copper, aluminium, and iron in “a complex, multi-stage process,” according to the press release. The downstream hydrometallurgical process is dedicated to the black mass, or active materials that make up the electrodes of the battery cells. Cobalt, nickel, and lithium are extracted individually in a multi-stage chemical process, but by the end of the process are ready and suitable for use in the production of new battery cells.
Unlike the pyrometallurgy established in Europe today, Mercedes says its hydrometallurgical process is less intensive in terms of energy consumption and material waste. Its low process temperatures of up to 176 F mean it consumes less energy. In addition, the recycling plant operates in a net carbon-neutral manner, including a 6,800-square-meter roof equipped with a photovoltaic system with a peak output of more than 350 kilowatts.
The new Mercedes-Benz battery recycling plant has an annual capacity of 2,500 tonnes. The recovered materials feed into the production of more than 50,000 battery modules for new all-electric Mercedes-Benz models. So it’s a modest start, but Mercedes plans to scale up production volumes and expand recycling capacities.
Mercedes-Benz’s technology partner for the battery recycling factory is Primobius, a joint venture between German plant and mechanical engineering company SMS group and Australian process technology developer Neometals. The company has invested tens of millions of euros in the construction of the new battery recycling plant, and is receiving funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of a scientific research project with three German universities. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz was present at the opening ceremony.
Photos: Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz