BMW to open battery cell recycling center in Bavaria

The BMW Group is building a competence center for battery cell recycling (CRCC) in Kirchroth, Lower Bavaria. There, the company will implement the so-called direct recycling process.

The German automobile manufacturer has announced plans to open a new battery cell recycling center in Kirchroth, a town in the Straubing-Bogen district of Lower Bavaria.

There, the company will employ a process called ‘direct recycling’, which, according to the manufacturer, “enables residual materials from battery cell production, as well as whole battery cells, to be mechanically dismantled into their valuable components.”

BMW Group experts developed the recycling method at the Competence Centers in Munich and Parsdorf. It will be implemented on a larger scale at the new CRCC, and once the processes are finalized, battery cell material in the mid-double-digit tonne range can be recycled per year.

Direct reuse

Once recycled, the raw materials will be directly reused in the pilot production of battery cells at BMW’s Battery Cell Competence Centres. The process is mainly focused on extracting lithium and cobalt but will also recover graphite, manganese, nickel, and copper from old batteries.

The BMW press release further specifies: “Unlike conventional methods, the main characteristic of direct recycling is that raw materials from battery cells are not reverted to their original state, but are fed back “directly” into the cell production cycle. This method dispenses with the previously common energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing.”

“The new Cell Recycling Competence Center brings another element to our in-house expertise: from development and pilot production to recycling, we are creating a closed loop for battery cells,” says Markus Fallböhmer, SVP Battery Production at BMW AG, “taking advantage of the short distances between our Competence Centres in Bavaria.”

The BMW Group is investing around €10 million in constructing the new Competence Center. Installation work is already scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025. Once completed, the recycling method will be validated in near-series processes.

Joint venture with Interzero Group

However, despite owning the relevant intellectual properties, BMW will not operate the center. Instead, it will be operated by Encory GmbH. The center is a joint venture of the BMW Group and Interzero Group, which develops and implements logistics and consulting solutions in areas such as collecting, recycling, and remanufacturing vehicle components.

Both partners hold a 50 percent stake in the company. Once completed, the new Competence Center will employ about 20 people.

Competence Centers

The BMW Group consolidates its battery cell expertise at its Competence Centers in Munich and Parsdorf. The Battery Cell Competence Center (BCCC) in the north of Munich offers state-of-the-art labs and research facilities for developing and producing battery cells for next-generation high-voltage batteries in small quantities.

The most promising battery cell from the BCCC will be scaled up for series processes on a pilot line at the Cell Manufacturing Competence Center (CMCC) in Parsdorf. Once completed, surplus material from pilot production in Parsdorf will be recycled at the new Competence Center in Kirchroth.

The recovered raw materials will then be reused in cell production in Parsdorf. This ensures short distances between all Competence Centers and prevents valuable raw materials from being lost. “Following the BCCC and CMCC, the CRCC thus represents the next step in the BMW Group’s battery cell strategy on the road to the circular economy,” says the press release.