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BASF launches prototype battery metal refinery recycling in Germany

May 19, 2024

BASF has begun the constructing a prototype metal refinery as part of Europe’s first co-located center for battery materials production and battery recycling in Schwarzheide. The company plans to optimize the recovery of valuable metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper.

The prototype metal refinery will complement BASF’s existing cathode active materials plant and the battery recycling plant for the production of black mass, which is set to commence operations later this year. BASF plans to establish a commercial-scale refinery in Europe in the coming years.

The company anticipates that the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market will make battery recycling a competitive and sustainable source of critical metals.

Daniel Schönfelder, president of BASF’s Catalysts division, who is also responsible for the company’s battery materials and battery recycling business, stated, “With the expected rapid growth of the electric vehicle market, battery recycling provides competitive and sustainable access to critical metals. We will use the extracted metals to enable a truly local circular economy for the battery value chain.”