German battery materials producer BASF said it entered into a long-term collaboration agreement with Tenova Advanced Technologies (TAT) of Yokneam, Israel, for its battery recycling prototype plant in Schwarzheide, Germany.
The companies will jointly optimise hydrometallurgical recycling. They will leverage TAT’s process for recovering and producing lithium. This includes lithium solvent extraction and lithium electrolysis.
It will include pilot activities at TAT’s R&D centre and the design and manufacture of a prototype plant to be operated at BASF’s facilities in Schwarzheide.
The prototype plant is expected to start later this year. BASF said it is an important milestone in its strategy to grow in recycling and recovering valuable metals, including nickel, cobalt, and lithium.
The investment in Schwarzheide is part of the “Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI)” approved by the European Commission in December 2019.
