German recycling company “cylib” from Aachen and Australian-German company Pure Battery Technologies (PBT) have signed a memorandum of understanding for closer collaboration in the field of battery recycling. The agreement focuses on jointly processing recycled battery material in Europe.
BMC for cathode material precursors
As part of the agreement, “cylib” will supply PBT with black mass concentrate (BMC). The company plans to use the intermediate product containing various metals – such as nickel, cobalt, and manganese – in a hydrometallurgical process to produce cathode material precursors. The collaboration aims to combine the complementary process steps of both companies with PBT emphasizing its recovery rates of up to 99 percent when refining BMC. The agreement comes amid stricter European regulations on battery recycling. The EU Battery Regulation requires that by 2030 at least 70 percent of the lithium and 95 percent of the cobalt, nickel, and copper contained in used batteries be recovered.
