Mercedes-Benz opens its own battery recycling factory

The company is thus the first automotive manufacturer worldwide to close the battery material cycle with its own facility. With the recycling plant in Kuppenheim, southern Germany, Mercedes-Benz underscores its pioneering spirit and innovative strength in establishing a true circular economy, aiming to significantly reduce the consumption of valuable primary resources.

High Recovery Rate

Unlike established processes today, the expected recovery rate of the mechanical-hydrometallurgical recycling plant is more than 96 percent. Valuable and limited raw materials such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt can be recovered, making them suitable for use in new batteries for future all-electric Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The company invested a double-digit million amount in building the new battery recycling factory and thus in value creation at the site in Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Baden-Württemberg's Environment Minister Thekla Walker visited the site for the opening in Kuppenheim, Baden.

"Mercedes-Benz aims to build the most desirable cars in a sustainable manner. As a pioneer in automobile manufacturing, we are setting a milestone on the path to more sustainability in raw materials with Europe's first integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical battery recycling factory. Together with our partners from business and science, we are sending a strong signal of innovative strength for sustainable electromobility and value creation in Germany and Europe," said Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

Mercedes-Benz is collaborating for the new battery recycling factory with technology partner Primobius, a joint venture of the German plant and machinery manufacturer SMS group and the Australian process technology developer Neometals. As part of a scientific research project with three German universities, the plant is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The project considers the entire process chain of recycling, including logistics and reintegration concepts. The partners are making an important contribution to the future scaling of the battery recycling economy in Germany.

"The future of the automobile is electric, and batteries are an essential component. To produce batteries in a resource-efficient and sustainable manner, recycling is also necessary. The circular economy is a growth driver and at the same time an essential component for achieving our climate goals! I congratulate Mercedes-Benz on their courage and foresight with this investment in Kuppenheim. Germany remains a lead market for new and innovative technologies," says Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Integrated Mechanical-Hydrometallurgical Recycling Concept

The Mercedes-Benz battery recycling plant covers, for the first time in Europe, all steps from the shredding of battery modules to the drying and processing of battery-active materials. While the mechanical process sorts plastics, copper, aluminum, and iron into pure fractions through a complex, multi-stage process, the subsequent hydrometallurgical process is dedicated to the so-called black mass. These are the active materials that make up the electrodes of battery cells. In a multi-stage chemical process, the valuable metals cobalt, nickel, and lithium are extracted individually. These recyclates are of battery quality and are thus suitable for the production of new battery cells.

Unlike the pyrometallurgy currently established in Europe, the hydrometallurgical process is less energy-intensive and generates less waste. It operates at low process temperatures of up to 80 degrees Celsius and therefore consumes less energy. Furthermore, the recycling plant, like all Mercedes-Benz production facilities, is operated in a CO₂-neutral manner on a balance sheet basis. It is supplied with 100 percent green electricity. The roof of the 6,800 square meter building is equipped with a photovoltaic system with a capacity of more than 350 kilowatt peak.

The Mercedes-Benz battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim has an annual capacity of 2,500 tons. The recovered materials are used in the production of more than 50,000 battery modules for new all-electric Mercedes-Benz models. Based on the insights gained, a scaling of production volumes could occur in the medium to long term.