Mercedes-Benz Opens own Recycling Factory in Germany to Close the EV Battery Loop

Mercedes-Benz has opened its own electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling plant, making it the first car manufacturer worldwide to close the battery recycling loop with its own in-house facility. The recycling plant in Kuppenheim, southern Germany, features a mechanical-hydrometallurgical recycling process.

Valuable and scarce raw materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt can be recovered using the process – in a way which is suitable for use in new batteries for future all-electric Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The expected recovery rate of the plant is more than 96 percent.

The company has invested tens of millions of euros in the construction of the new EV battery recycling plant.

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.

Germany's Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the plant for the opening ceremony in Kuppenheim, Baden.

Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, says: “Mercedes-Benz has set itself the goal of building the most desirable cars in a sustainable way. As a pioneer in automotive engineering, Europe's first integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical battery recycling factory marks a key milestone towards enhancing raw-materials sustainability. Together with our partners from industry and science, we are sending a strong signal of innovative strength for sustainable electric mobility and value creation in Germany and Europe.”

Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, adds: “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.”

Mercedes‑Benz AG is part of the Mercedes‑Benz Group AG with a total of around 166,000 employees worldwide and is responsible for the global business of Mercedes‑Benz Cars and Mercedes‑Benz Vans