Recycling used batteries: THI and Saubermacher plan co-operation

Disposing of an electric vehicle battery is not without its problems. Used batteries can end up in landfills and release harmful heavy metals into the environment. It is therefore important that they are properly recycled and that all recyclable materials are carefully recovered, especially heavy metals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Recovering these materials reduces the need for new minerals and can also benefit the economy. The recovered materials can be reused in the manufacture of new products and could be beneficial in the event of future raw material shortages and fluctuating raw material prices.

The storage of used batteries, their transport to recycling plants, and their dismantling before the recovery of recyclable materials also pose a challenge. To solve these problems, Dr. Thomas Hafner from Saubermacher visited Dr. Yash Kotak and Professor Hans-Georg Schweiger from CARISSMA at Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences and had a fruitful discussion on how the two organizations can work together. The discussion included looking at existing national, European, and international projects that both organizations are involved in independently. The areas for funding applications, i.e. national German funding, EU funding, and Austrian funding, were then explored and finally, a lab tour was conducted.