New battery recycling plant starts operations in Hamburg
Multimetal supplier Aurubis is starting operations at a new pilot plant at its Hamburg site following successful tests of the process.
The company will start processing of black mass from lithium-ion batteries at the pilot plant where it will recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite.
”Battery recycling is gaining strong significance due to growth in electric vehicles and the swift increase in demand for lithium-ion batteries and the raw materials required to produce them. As the most efficient and sustainable smelter network in the world, we have the long-standing metallurgical expertise necessary to be a key trailblazer for the mobility shift with our metals and process solutions,” says Aurubis CEO Roland Harings in a press release
The pilot plant has a modular structure and will extract metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite from so-called black mass in a hydrometallurgical process. Black mass is a powdery residue that forms when lithium-ion batteries are dismantled and shredded. The metals recovered in the Aurubis recycling process can then be used for new batteries and other products.
”The responsible approach to resources and the goal of closing the cycle of valuable metals for electric vehicles are important factors for our investment decision. Furthermore, recycling is a central, strategic driver of growth for Aurubis. We want to play a leading role in battery recycling,” says the CEO.
Following the successful conclusion of the pilot phase, Aurubis plans to build a battery recycling plant on an industrial scale – for this purpose, the company says that it currently anticipates an investment of approximately EUR 200 million. And the CEO says that he is convinced that Aurubis will commission an industrial-scale battery recycling plant within the next five years
