Mercedes-Benz opens battery recycling factory in southern Germany
Mercedes-Benz has opened Europe's first battery recycling plant with an integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process in Kuppenheim, Baden. This covers all steps from shredding the battery modules to drying and processing the recyclable materials. This makes the company the first car manufacturer in the world to close the battery recycling loop with its own plant. The company has invested tens of millions in the construction of the new factory, which was opened in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Baden-Württemberg's Environment Minister Thekla Walker.
Unlike the pyrometallurgical process established in Europe today, the hydrometallurgical process is less energy-intensive and produces smaller quantities of waste. While plastics, copper, aluminum and iron are sorted by type in the mechanical part of the process, the downstream hydrometallurgical process is dedicated to the so-called black mass. These are the active materials that make up the electrodes of the battery cells. The valuable metals cobalt, nickel and lithium are extracted individually in a multi-stage chemical process. These recyclates are of battery quality and are therefore suitable for the production of new battery cells. Overall, Mercedes-Benz expects the mechanical-hydrometallurgical recycling plant to achieve a recovery rate of more than 96 percent.
The battery recycling plant has an annual capacity of 2500 tons. The recovered materials are to be used in the production of more than 50,000 battery modules for new all-electric Mercedes-Benz models. (aum)
More info for topic: Mercedes-Benz , Batterie-Recyclingfabrik , Kuppenheim , hydrometallurgische Verfahren
Share this article:
Images of article
Photo source: Autoren-Union Mobilität/Mercedes-Benz
Download:
Photo source: Autoren-Union Mobilität/Mercedes-Benz
Download:
Photo source: Autoren-Union Mobilität/Mercedes-Benz
Download:
Photo source: Autoren-Union Mobilität/Mercedes-Benz
Download:
Photo source: Autoren-Union Mobilität/Mercedes-Benz
Download: