BASF is building a factory for recycling nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium from batteries

The German chemical company BASF is going to build a plant in Germany for the recycling of ‘black mass’, a composition of nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium. These are the main elements from cathodes of today’s lithium ion electric car batteries.

According to BASF the construction of this plant will strengthen the existing hub in Scharzheide for the production and recycling of cathode active materials. The company is therefore already present at this location in eastern Germany with a facility for the production of cathodes. Construction should start in 2024 and accommodate thirty new employees. The annual processing capacity is 15,000 tons of batteries from electric cars and production scrap.

The production of black mass can be regarded as the first step in the battery recycling process. Black matter contains high concentrations of lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese and will become the source for the hydrometallurgical refinery that BASF plans to build around 2025. This factory will mainly recover the desired metals from used car batteries in order to reuse them.

According to the company, the upcoming black mass plant closes the chain in that it creates a link between worn-out batteries and the production of cathode active materials for new batteries. BASF states that this optimizes the end-to-end recycling process, leading to lower CO2 emissions, a reduced dependence on mined raw materials and the possibility of a circular economy.

Impression of the factory to be built