Chemicals firm BASF has confirmed it will build a commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling plant to process black mass in Schwarzheide, Germany.
With an annual processing capacity of 15,000 tons of EV batteries and production scrap, BASF hopes the plant will enable it to close the loop from end-of-life batteries to cathode active materials (CAM) for new batteries.
This investment will strengthen BASF’s CAM production and recycling hub in Schwarzheide when commissioned in early 2024.
Black mass contains high amounts of the key metals used to produce CAM including: lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese.
It will be the feedstock for the firm’s commercial hydrometallurgical refinery for battery recycling that it plans to build in the next four years.
Dr. Peter Schuhmacher, president, Catalysts division at BASF, said: “With this investment in a commercial-scale battery recycling black mass plant, we take the next step to establish the full battery recycling value chain at BASF.
“This allows us to optimise the end-to-end recycling process and reduce the CO2 footprint.”