Scrap EVs are good sources of raw materials. A start-up wants to earn money by recycling electric vehicle batteries. But insurers and workshops are also interested in spare parts. EV recycling is just getting started.
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00:00EVs are booming, but they don't last forever. Bad news for EV owners, good news for recycling.
00:07A new raw materials market will emerge.
00:10And it's starting here, near the Dutch border in the Germantown of Meppen.
00:15Automobile recycler Kempers shows how EVs, which are ready for the scrap heap, can still be used.
00:22Boss Eitan Kempers explains where things are already heading.
00:28We rate the quality of the used parts, then we store, photograph and sell them on the open market,
00:34such as the private customers, insurance companies, garages and repair shops.
00:41Salvaging vehicles is nothing new, but the customers in Germany are.
00:46Other countries already do it, but in Germany the insurance companies are starting to make repairs with used parts,
00:52as more spare parts have been on back order since the coronavirus pandemic.
00:57The supply of used parts could be much bigger, and not just here.
01:03But once again, Germany is a bit different from its neighbors.
01:07Unfortunately in Germany, no matter how damaged a vehicle is or how many accidents it's been in,
01:16it won't be sent to the recycling plants. Such vehicles are usually exported.
01:22In comparison, Germany has 50 million registered cars, but only 300,000 cars are recycled each year.
01:29While France has 14 million registered cars, but 1.4 million get recycled.
01:35This should not be happening with scrap EVs. Their batteries contain raw materials worth a small fortune.
01:44A new company recently began operations next door to unearth these treasures.
01:49Rely on BAT. The brains behind it? Christoph Spandau.
01:55He wants to secure scarce raw materials, which the EU Commission has made a priority in Europe.
02:01The plant makes a significant contribution to securing raw materials as we recover very critical raw materials here in an environmentally friendly way that saves resources.
02:14This plant will process up to 30,000 tons of batteries from Kempers and from across Germany each year.
02:23The components are shredded, and the materials are sorted for recycling.
02:27The Mepin plant is the biggest of its kind in Europe, and it runs entirely without state subsidies.
02:34Lithium and cobalt, left behind in a black mass, are supposed to be especially valuable, but the market price says otherwise.
02:43Right now, with copper, we have an all-time high of around 10,000 dollars a tonne.
02:50The black mass is currently worth around 2,500 to 3,000 euros a tonne.
02:56The cocktail of lithium, cobalt and nickel is not only worth less, the black mass is currently going to Asia or the US.
03:03So the recycling is not completed in Mepin.
03:06The black mass is currently still being exported because we do not yet have sufficient facilities in Germany and Europe to hydrometallurgically process it.
03:19The raw materials group Glencore is thinking about converting its zinc plant in Sardinia to process the black mass.
03:26Only then would the battery recycling be completed in the EU.
03:30Experts say there is huge time pressure, as the EU will soon impose its first battery recycling quotas.
03:36For me personally, there is still an unanswered question as to whether these minimum recycling quotas for lithium, nickel and cobalt can really be met from the beginning of the 2030s.
03:51Kempers is no longer waiting for the boom. The first signs have already emerged.
03:58Because we can process up to 10,000 cars a year here as standard, and we are already noticing that more and more EVs are being steered in our direction.
04:08And Christoph Spandau is already receiving several tons in the first few weeks of operation.
04:15In addition to batteries from test or accident vehicles and rejects, RelyonBat also processes other batteries.
04:23These are large quantities that come back because everyone knows how many battery powered devices they have at home.
04:31And what we can do is recover all the raw materials here.
04:35More than 10,000 tons of used batteries will be able to be temporarily stored here.
04:41Sounds like a lot, but a recall campaign for faulty car batteries would push capacity to the limit.
04:48That's why this system is really relevant and is currently the biggest system in Europe.
04:54But you have to be honest with yourself, it's just a drop in the ocean.
04:59The medium-sized company RelyonBat is thinking ahead.
05:03As soon as the capacities are no longer sufficient, the plant can be doubled to 60,000 tons of batteries per year.
05:09But that's not bad. In five years, 400,000 tons of used batteries are expected from across the EU each year.
05:17are ready for the first two.
05:20It's in the last few weeks of operation.
05:23The last few weeks you ever have been involved, remember, is the first component of the new world,
05:24the new world's body is within those batteries in the future.
05:25That's not a big piece.
05:27The new world is above ...
05:29The new world has been around $39,000.
05:31It's about $9,000.
05:35It is about $29,000.