From old to new – Battery recycling in Salzgitter | Knowledge Hub | Circle Economy Foundation
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From old to new – Battery recycling in Salzgitter
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Volkswagen Group Components has opened the group’s first plant for recycling electric car batteries in Salzgitter, and pilot operation has started in the Lower Saxony city. The plant uses for the first time a mechanical process to drain and dismantle the batteries in their components so that they can be recovered and returned to the production cycle.

Problem

Until now, used batteries have mostly been incinerated, which is an energy-intensive process. Batteries contain valuable raw materials, such as lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt; these minerals are lost when the batteries are not recycled. 

Solution

The VW Group says that this battery recycling plant is part of its “committed step towards sustainable end-to-end responsibility for the entire value chain of the electric vehicle battery.” The aim is a closed-loop system in which the batteries’ raw materials, such as lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt, aluminium, copper, and plastics, are recovered and reused, achieving a recycling rate of more than 90% over the long term.

A unique feature of the Salzgitter plant is that it only recycles batteries that can no longer be used for other purposes. Before the battery is recycled, an analysis determines whether the battery is still powerful enough to be given a second life in mobile energy storage systems, such as a flexible rapid charging station or a mobile charging robot, for instance.

Outcome

The plant has been designed to initially recycle up to 3,600 battery systems per year during the pilot phase – this is the equivalent of approximately 1,500 tonnes. As the plant reaches capacity, the system can be scaled up to handle larger quantities, and additional, larger plants could be built. If they produce cathodes exclusively from recycled material, Volkswagen will save more than one ton of CO2 per vehicle, the company says. 

Additional information

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

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