Mercedes-Benz has announced the opening of the first electric vehicle battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The new plant, located south of Karlsruhe, aims to recover valuable recyclable materials from over 50,000 battery units annually.
During the opening ceremony attended by Ola Källenius, CEO of the company, it was emphasized that the new plant represents the convergence of two German passions: cars and recycling. Källenius stated that Mercedes’ initiative in Kuppenheim is a logical and important step towards sustainability.
Källenius described the new plant as a “significant milestone towards enhancing sustainability in raw material usage” as it covers all recycling stages from dismantling battery units to processing recoverable materials. It is expected that the material recovery rate will exceed 96%.
The plant includes material sorting processes such as plastic, copper, aluminum, and iron in its mechanical stages, followed by extracting precious metals like cobalt, nickel, and lithium in the final stage. Mercedes indicates that these recycled materials will be suitable for producing new battery cells.
Recycling is a vital step towards promoting electric mobility in the future, expected to play an increasing role in the coming years. In addition to the potential use of spent batteries in “second life” applications as energy storage units, recycling also helps reduce Germany’s reliance on imported raw materials, especially those coming from Asian countries.
