BASF officially opened a state-of-the-art battery recycling plant in Schwarzheide on June 3, 2025. The new facility processes up to 15,000 tons of discarded lithium-ion batteries and production rejects every year – the equivalent of around 40,000 electric car batteries per year.
In the first step of the recycling process, the batteries are mechanically treated to extract the so-called “black mass”. This contains valuable metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese, which are essential for the production of new cathode materials (CAM). In a subsequent hydrometallurgical process, these metals can be chemically recovered and reused.
The new plant complements BASF’s existing fully automated large-scale production plant for cathode materials and a prototype metal refinery at the Schwarzheide site. This integrated structure strengthens BASF’s position as the preferred recycling partner along the entire battery value chain in Europe.
The investment underlines BASF’s commitment to a sustainable circular economy and supports compliance with the EU Battery Regulation. It also helps to reduce the carbon footprint of electric vehicles and promotes Europe’s independence from imported raw materials.
Further information can be found in BASF’s official press release: https://www.basf.com/global/de/media/news-releases/2025/06/p-25-112