Innovative Partners: BASF and Stena Recycling Team Up for European Battery Recycling

German chemicals giant BASF has announced a breakthrough agreement with Stena Recycling to purchase black powder, a key component for battery recycling, from the Swedish company, a landmark move for the lithium battery industry.

The collaboration marks a major step towards establishing a comprehensive battery recycling value chain in Europe.

The collaboration aims to develop and improve processes for recycling critical metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt to achieve higher recovery rates. According to the agreement, Stena Recycling's plant in Halmstad, Sweden, will be responsible for the collection, evaluation and preliminary processing of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery production waste. The resulting black powder will be wet recovered and further processed and refined at BASF's pilot plant in Schwarzheide, Germany.

Product Area Manager Batteries at Stena Recycling Group said that the company will be committed to exploring and developing new technologies to help battery production achieve recycling. He stressed that cooperation between industry players is crucial for a successful green transition, and this agreement strengthens Stena Recycling's position as a European battery manufacturer and a leading recycling partner for the automotive industry.

The President of BASF's Catalysts division highlighted the role this collaboration can play in strengthening BASF's ability to offer an expanded battery collection network in the Nordic countries. He said this is an important step for the European electric vehicle battery market to move towards a circular economy.

Going forward, Stena Recycling and BASF plan to gradually adapt their recycling programs to accommodate recycling on a larger scale. Earlier, BASF had announced its plan to build a large-scale, commercial wet recycling and refining plant for lithium battery recycling in the middle of the third decade of the 21st century. Upon completion, it is expected to have an annual processing capacity of 15,000 tons. If the project and related technologies advance smoothly, it is expected to increase the raw material self-sufficiency rate of the European lithium battery industry chain to a certain extent.