Finally, it is treated with sulfuric acid, ammonia and an organic solvent, producing sulfates of copper, cobalt, manganese, nickel and lithium.

Copper, manganese and lithium are stored in liquid form in huge drums, while cobalt and nickel are crystallized before being recovered and reused.

It will take about “three to four years” to reach the annual yield of 2,500 tons, Burzer said. Indeed, there is currently a limited stock of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, due to the relative newness of Mercedes’ electric vehicles. Its first mass-produced electric car, the EQC, was launched in 2018.

Burzer said: “You have to have a certain amount of batteries on the market before you can (start to) recycle them. So you have to produce them first, and it will be with raw materials from mines, because you don’t have to recycle anything. “Our quality standard for our batteries is eight to ten years, so there will be some delay. This means that for the next three, four or five years it will work (at a lower capacity), but at the same time what is very important is that we understand the process and, more importantly, that we understand the scalability.

In the meantime, Kuppenheim will recycle batteries from Mercedes’ research and development efforts, as well as those from prototype cars. Burzer said Mercedes was also willing to accept batteries from other manufacturers, as well as look at different chemistries.