Backers of a 30,000 tons per year capacity electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling facility held a groundbreaking ceremony in Dormagen, Germany, at the future site of the plant, to be operated by a newly created company called Cylib GmbH.
Cylib says the groundbreaking in Dormagen takes place about one year after the commissioning of a pilot line established by the company in Aachen, Germany.
The company credits a recent financing round, which it calls the largest in European battery recycling to date, with helping Cylib to acquire a 236,000-square-foot brownfield site at a “sustainable” industrial park operated by Currenta.
Continues Cylib, “The industrial site will enter operation in 2026 with an annual recycling capacity of around 30,000 tons of end-of-life batteries.”
“Battery recycling is pioneering the circular economy, proving that economic success is compatible with reduced environmental impact,” says Cylib CEO and co-founder Dr. Lilian Schwich.
Comments Tim Hartmann, CEO of land owner Currenta, “Our goal is to become Europe’s leading sustainable chemical park. The new industrial move in battery recycling and our shared commitment to the Dormagen ecosystem perfectly align with our strategy.”
Cylib says its proprietary process has been designed to recover all elements from lithium-ion batteries, “implementing a water-based lithium and graphite recovery” process for production scrap and black mass.
The project’s backers, who include automaker Porsche and components maker Bosch, also tie the plant’s future to the European Union Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), saying Cylib “plays a significant role in being able to urban mine and supply seven of these strategically critical raw materials—[including] lithium, graphite, nickel and cobalt—domestically in the EU.”
Cylib says the EU also mandates the integration of minimum percentages of recycled materials into new batteries, while a battery extended producer responsibility (EPR) system “mandates that all battery manufacturers, distributors and owners are wholly responsible for the collection, recycling and disposal of end-of-life batteries.”
“Cylib reaching industrial scale production will be a key driver in building a robust European battery infrastructure,” says Schwich.
Paul Sabarny, chief technology officer and co-founder of Cylib, says the plant’s location within what is planned as a wider chemical industry-focused park located between the industrial cities of Düsseldorf and Cologne will provide efficient connections and logistics via rail, air, road and waterways and offer Cylib “significant advantages in terms of speed on our path to large-scale industrialization.”
Adds Dr. Gideon Schwich, chief operating officer and another co-founder of Cylib, “We will leverage the potential of the ecosystem at Chempark Dormagen to make our sustainable products globally accessible.”
Courtesy : recyclingtoday.com