Multi-metal supplier Aurubis is commissioning a lithium-ion battery recycling pilot plant in Germany after the successful laboratory-scale tests of the process.
The pilot plant in Hamburg will extract lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite from black mass in a hydrometallurgical process.
The metals recovered in the Aurubis recycling process can then be used for new batteries and other products.
Following the successful conclusion of the pilot phase, Aurubis plans to build a battery recycling plant on an “industrial scale” within the next five years.
The German-headquartered firm has ear-marked around €200 million ($220 million) for the project.
Aurubis will integrate this plant into its own smelter network in order to recover and further process battery metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite.
