Volkswagen Group Starts Small Scale EV Battery Recycling

The recycling process does not require energy-intensive melting in a blast furnace.

Volkswagen Group Components opened its first plant for recycling electric car batteries in Salzgitter, Germany yesterday. The pilot plant aspires to mass-produce recovery of valuable raw materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt in a closed loop together with aluminum, copper and plastics, achieving a recycling rate of more than 90% over the long term. (Honda to Recycle Rare Earth Metals from Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries in World’s First Mass Production Process)

Salzgitter 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 the flexible rapid charging station or the mobile charging robot. Larger volumes of battery returns are not expected until the late 2020s at the earliest.

Therefore, the plant has been designed to initially recycle up to 3,600 battery systems per year during the pilot phase. This is the equivalent to more than 1,600 tons. the system can be scaled up to handle larger quantities as the process is consistently optimized.

The recycling process does not require energy-intensive melting in a blast furnace. The used battery systems are delivered, deep discharged, and dismantled. The individual parts are ground into granules in the shredder and then dried. In addition to aluminum, copper and plastics, the process also yields valuable “black powder”, which contains the raw materials for batteries such as lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt, as well as graphite. The separation and processing of the individual substances by hydro-metallurgical processes (using water and chemical agents)is then carried out by specialized partners.

AutoInformed.com on Battery Recycling

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• Honda and JMC Nickel-Metal Hydride Recycling Yields 99% Pure Rare Earth Metals in World’s First Mass Production Proces
• GM, ABB Demonstrate Chevrolet Volt Battery Reuse for Backup Power
• Chinese CATL and Honda Alliance to Make EV Batteries, Technology and Maybe Autonomous Vehicles
• Honda to Recycle Rare Earth Metals from Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries in World’s First Mass Production Process