Mercedes-Benz opens own recycling factory to close the battery loop

Mercedes-Benz opened Europe's first battery recycling plant with an integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process making it the first car manufacturer worldwide to close the battery recycling loop with its own in-house facility. The recycling plant in Kuppenheim, southern Germany, creates a genuine circular economy. This underpins the pioneering spirit and innovative strength of Mercedes-Benz as it strives to significantly reduce the consumption of valuable primary resources. Unlike existing established processes, the expected recovery rate of the mechanical-hydrometallurgical recycling plant is more than 96 percent. Valuable and scarce raw materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt can be recovered – in a way which is suitable for use in new batteries for future all-electric Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The company has invested tens of millions of euros in the construction of the new battery recycling plant and thus in the value creation in Germany. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Baden-Württemberg's Environment Minister Thekla Walker visited the plant for the opening ceremony in Kuppenheim, Baden.