[OEM] BMW announces $10 million battery facility: We are creating a closed loop

출처 : BatteryNews (2025.2.6)

출처 : BatteryNews

BMW announces $10 million battery facility: ‘We are creating a closed loop’

BMW is going all-in on its use of an innovative process the company has termed “direct recycling.” The renowned car brand announced a fresh investment of about $10.4 million (€10 million) in the method with a new Lower Bavaria facility.

That commitment builds on previous success with the method at BMW Competence Centres in Munich and Parsdorf. Now, at a much larger scale, the car company anticipates recycling battery cell material in the mid-double-digit ton range annually.

Direct recycling takes both whole battery cell and residual material from battery cell production, and mechanically breaks them down “into their valuable components,” according to the press release. From there, raw materials like lithium and cobalt can be quickly reinserted into the cell production cycle.

BMW is going all-in on its use of an innovative process the company has termed “direct recycling.” The renowned car brand announced a fresh investment of about $10.4 million (€10 million) in the method with a new Lower Bavaria facility.

That commitment builds on previous success with the method at BMW Competence Centres in Munich and Parsdorf. Now, at a much larger scale, the car company anticipates recycling battery cell material in the mid-double-digit ton range annually.

Direct recycling takes both whole battery cell and residual material from battery cell production, and mechanically breaks them down “into their valuable components,” according to the press release. From there, raw materials like lithium and cobalt can be quickly reinserted into the cell production cycle.

This process “dispenses with the previously common energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing” that characterizes returning materials back to their original state, per BMW.

BMW’s SVP of battery production, Markus Fallböhmer, said :

From development and pilot production to recycling, we are creating a closed loop for battery cells,

Fallböhmer asserted the nearness of the coming facility to production will ensure that BMW is
Overall, the new configuration,

Taking advantage of the short distances between our Competence Centres in Bavaria.

“prevents valuable raw materials from being lost,” and gets them quickly back into circulation for new batteries.

This move by BMW is a positive step as scientists and companies take on the critical task of finding the best ways to recycle EV batteries. While the resources used to mine for the precious materials used in the batteries don’t approach those needed for dirty energy sources, it’s still worthwhile to maximize what is already out there.