Europe’s First Industrial Battery Recycling Plant Opens

A new industrial facility in Bavaria has begun operations, marking a critical step in Europe’s effort to secure its own supply of battery raw materials. The startup tozero has launched its industrial demonstration plant at Chemical Park Gendorf, a facility capable of processing over 1,500 tonnes of battery waste annually. This plant represents Europe’s first operational industrial-scale battery recycling plant, a direct response to a looming resource crisis.

Across the continent, tens of thousands of end-of-life electric vehicles sit idle, their batteries holding valuable lithium, graphite, and nickel-cobalt. European manufacturers currently scramble to import these same materials. Until now, no company had a viable method to recover them at an industrial scale. tozero, founded in 2022, states its new plant changes that equation. The site’s existing infrastructure allowed for a remarkably fast commissioning, taking roughly six months from start to finish.

The core innovation lies in the company’s proprietary acid-free hydrometallurgical process. Unlike conventional pyrometallurgical methods that lose lithium and graphite, this single-cycle system recovers high-purity materials ready for direct reuse in new battery cells. The plant’s output includes more than 100 tonnes of high-purity lithium carbonate each year, which the company claims is produced at costs twice as competitive as conventional mining.

tozero’s commercial progress is already verified. In April 2024, it became the first European company to deliver recycled lithium to commercial customers. By February 2025, it achieved another first by qualifying 100% recycled graphite for industrial-scale lithium-ion battery production. The new demonstration plant combines these milestones at a larger scale and will serve as the model for a full-scale commercial facility. That future plant, targeting a 2030 launch, aims to process 45,000 tonnes of battery waste per year, yielding approximately 8,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and 10,000 tonnes of graphite.

The company was founded by serial entrepreneur Sarah Fleischer and Dr. Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, a metallurgy expert whose published research forms the technical foundation. tozero has successfully completed pilot programs with automotive giants like BMW and MAN, demonstrating a consistent lithium recovery rate exceeding 80%. This performance already meets the EU’s mandatory 2031 target under its Battery Directive.

Financially, the startup is backed by a consortium of investors including NordicNinja, Atlantic Labs, Honda, and In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the U. S. intelligence community. Total funding, which includes a €2.5 million EIC Accelerator grant, stands at approximately €17 million.

The launch is strategically timed within a pressing geopolitical context. China dominates the global supply and processing of both graphite and lithium, leaving Europe almost entirely dependent on imports. Legislation like the EU Critical Raw Materials Act mandates that 25% of supply must come from recycling by 2030. With global lithium demand projected to quadruple this decade and EU graphite demand potentially rising 25-fold by 2040, the need for local solutions is urgent.

While its initial capacity is modest, the Gendorf plant provides a tangible, industrial-scale answer to a supply chain challenge Europe is only beginning to confront. It establishes a foundational blueprint for a more resilient and circular battery economy on the continent.