Mercedes-Benz opened a revolutionary electric vehicle battery recycling plant in October that will eliminate almost all waste associated with used electric vehicle batteries, according to an Agence France-Presse report published in Xplore Technology.

Recycling electric vehicle batteries is not a new concept. Like most other batteries, even small ones, they are not meant to be thrown away. When in landfills, they can release toxic chemicals into the soil. In most recycling programs in the United States, it is a complicated process during which used batteries change hands multiple times – and there is no doubt that pollution caused by global warming is released in the process.

And even though mining the precious metals needed for electric vehicle batteries is only a fraction of what is needed to exploit dirty energy sources like oil and gas, it still remains unavoidable pollution. (However, even with this inevitable pollution, an EV is always cleaner than a gasoline vehicle.)

Now the new Mercedes-Benz factory, located in southwest Germany, will reduce the need to mine new materials. It would have the capacity to recycle 2,500 tonnes (approximately 2,755 tonnes) of materials each year. According to Automotive Dive, the plant will be the first battery recycling facility in Europe to use a mechano-hydrometallurgical process that will enable recover up to 96% metals used in battery production, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt.

Ultimately, the recycling process will provide Mercedes with the raw materials needed to produce more 50,000 new batteries per year, according to AFP.

Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes said the factory “marks a key step towards improving the sustainability of raw materials”.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, present at the inauguration of the establishment, said“The circular economy is an engine of growth and, at the same time, an essential element for achieving our climate goals.”

The recycling plant should also go a long way in helping Mercedes-Benz get ahead stricter regulations on electric vehicle batteries which will come into force in the near future. The European Union adopted a regulation in 2023 which, ultimately, require batteries in newly sold electric vehicles contain 16% recycled content for cobalt, 85% for lead, 6% for lithium and 6% for nickel, according to Automotive Dive.

This installation is good news for the European electric vehicle sector, which has seen a slump sales in recent months, but it is a trend that seems to turn around.

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