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Recycling plant to generate 100 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually for European batteries
1/4/2026
News
Munich-based startup Tozero has launched an industrial demonstration plant in Bavaria that can process 1,500 tonnes of battery waste annually. It aims to recover lithium and graphite, reducing Europe’s dependence on foreign imports.
The plant utilises an acid-free hydrometallurgy process to recover 80% of critical materials in electric vehicle (EV) rechargeable batteries. According to the company, the site can produce over 100 tonnes of high-purity lithium carbonate – the equivalent of diverting 6,000 EVs’ worth of batteries from landfills – while recovering graphite and nickel-cobalt at an industrial scale.
Europe currently imports 99% of its lithium and demand for graphite is projected to increase 25-fold by 2040, according to Tozero, which expects a global supply gap exceeding 33% starting in 2035.
‘Europe doesn’t yet have the critical raw materials it needs to build and scale its own energy transition and battery industry,’ said Sarah Fleischer, Co-Founder and CEO of Tozero. ‘In just under four years, Tozero has gone from lab-scale experiments to industrial operations and we’re consistently proving that recycling isn’t just a pilot project – it can be delivered at a level capable of giving Europe a homegrown, circular supply of critical materials its future runs on.’
The project aligns with the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, which mandates that 25% of the EU’s annual consumption of strategic raw materials come from domestic recycling by 2030.
