Mercedes-Benz is a new step on the path to sustainability

Mercedes-Benz and a new step on the path to sustainability

The German auto giantMercedes Benz celebrated laying the first brick in a new battery recycling plant in Copenheim – Germany, and this is in light of the company’s strategy to achieve sustainability in its operations and reduce resource consumption, including car batteries that have recently become widely used inelectric cars, as well as in hybrid cars. Through this factory, Mercedes aims to transform the battery production process into a circular economy, where it is possible to reduce the production of batteries from virgin raw materials.

To clarify the matter, what is meant by batteries here are the large lithium batteries that are used in electric and hybrid cars to operate electric motors, and not those traditional batteries (lead and sulfuric acid batteries) that we buy and then change every year or two. This is with the aim of reducing dependence on fossil fuels and internal combustion engines.

The first of its kind in Europe

Lithium batteries consist mainly of lithium salts, graphite or carbon, in addition to some other metals, such as: magnesium, nickel, and cobalt. Therefore, recycling spent or damaged batteries is important in preserving resources, and making the switch to these batteries instead of fossil fuels a truly green shift.

The first phase of the factory will include the completion of the mechanical disassembly unit for used electric vehicle batteries. This phase is expected to be completed at the end of this year, and after a few months a pilot plant will be established to extract metals from finished batteries using hydrometallurgy techniques. This factory using this unique technology is the first of its kind in Europe, opening the way for car manufacturers around the world. To take sustainable steps in their production processes.

Mercedes investments will exceed ten million euros to build the new factory, to be Carbon Neutrality, in addition to funding the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate Protection, as part of a scientific research project. The German manufacturer’s new factory represents a decisive step in Mercedes-Benz’s sustainable business strategy, which includes converting all of its cars to run on electricity instead of fossil fuels.

By the end of construction of the battery recycling plant in Copenheim, the facility will be able to perform all steps of the recycling process, from mechanical disassembly, through shredding and shredding, to processing to recover the desired metals.

Achieving the circular economy

Hydrometallurgy technologies enable a recovery of more than 96% of battery materials, bringing a true circular economy to automotive battery production. Mercedes is cooperating in this project with a technical partner, Primobius.

The technology developed by “Primobius” works to recover valuable materials from batteries in electronic devices, and this is to recover elements such as: cobalt, nickel, lithium, copper, iron, aluminium, carbon, plastic, and manganese. These recovered elements are then redirected into salable products that can be reused in the battery production supply chain.

The battery recycling process includes two main stages, the first: dismantling and cutting the batteries, and then classifying them to benefit from the external components of the batteries, such as: metal casings, plastic, and others. The second: Passing the remaining materials through chemical leaching processes, then purification and sedimentation, and finally the refining process to produce the final product of chemicals.

The pilot plant is expected to have an annual recycling capacity estimated at 2,500 tons, and the materials that will be recovered from battery recycling will be directed again into the production circuit to manufacture more than 50,000 new battery units from various electric and hybrid Mercedes-Benz models. Based on the results of this pilot plant, Mercedes will examine the possibility of increasing operational capacity and increasing recycling rates in the medium and long term. Long.