Battery recycling company Tozero (styled ‘tozero’) has launched an industrial demonstration plant in Germany capable of recovering lithium and other critical raw materials from end-of-life batteries, as Europe seeks to reduce dependence on imported supply.
The facility, located at Chemical Park Gendorf in Bavaria, was built and commissioned in just six months and can process around 1,500 tonnes of battery waste per year. From this, the company expects to produce high-purity lithium carbonate, alongside recovered graphite and nickel-cobalt materials.
Tozero said the plant represents one of the fastest scale-ups in the battery recycling sector to date and provides a model for future commercial operations. A full-scale facility is planned by 2030, with capacity to produce up to thousands of tonnes of lithium carbonate and graphite.
The company uses an acid-free hydrometallurgical process designed to recover materials in a single cycle, producing outputs of sufficient purity to be fed directly back into battery manufacturing. It has already completed qualification of recycled lithium and graphite with cathode and anode manufacturers, indicating readiness for integration into supply chains.
The launch comes amid growing concern over Europe’s reliance on imported critical raw materials. Currently, around 99% of Europe’s lithium supply is sourced from abroad, while China dominates global graphite production. At the same time, demand for battery materials is expected to rise sharply, driven by electric vehicles, grid-scale storage and wider electrification.
According to industry projections cited by the company, global lithium demand could quadruple by 2030, while European demand for graphite may increase up to 25-fold by 2040. This is expected to contribute to a global supply gap exceeding 30% from the mid-2030s, increasing pressure on alternative sources such as recycling.
Tozero claims a cost advantage over primary mining
Tozero said its approach could offer a cost advantage over primary mining, claiming its recycled materials can be produced at roughly half the cost of conventional extraction. The company also positions recycling as a route to meeting regulatory targets, including the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act, which calls for 25% of supply to come from recycling.
“Europe doesn’t yet have the critical raw materials it needs to build and scale its own energy transition and battery industry,” said co-founder and CEO Sarah Fleischer. “Our technology enables us to recycle end-of-life batteries and extract these materials at industrial scale, creating a domestic, circular supply.”
The demonstration plant will initially supply recycled lithium and graphite to sectors including batteries, construction, ceramics and lubricants, with further applications expected as production scales.
Founded in 2022, Tozero has expanded rapidly, moving from laboratory-scale research to industrial operations in under four years. The company previously established a pilot facility and has worked with automotive manufacturers including BMW and MAN on recycling trials. It reports lithium recovery rates above 80%, meeting upcoming EU targets.
The company has also qualified recycled graphite for use in lithium-ion battery cell production, marking a step towards closing the materials loop within Europe’s battery ecosystem.
Photo: © Tozero
