The Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt and European Metal Recycling (EMR) from England have opened a recycling plant in Hamburg, Germany. After extensive conversion work on an area of 10,000 square meters, the facility had been developed specifically for the disassembly of traction batteries.
Disassembling 10,000 tons of battery packs per year
According to both companies, the Hamburg facility enables the discharging and disassembling of around 10,000 tons of battery packs per year. EMR is responsible for the operation and equipment of the plant, while Northvolt planned the factory structure and processes and integrated its customized solutions for battery discharge and disassembly.
Recycling of battery module wiring and housing materials
It is believed that EMR will use its experience as a metal recycler to extract copper and aluminum in a resource-efficient manner for the purpose of its reuse. The process is said to focus primarily on the battery module wiring and the battery housing itself. The actual battery modules and the battery cells they contain, with their valuable active materials, will not be processed in Hamburg-Billbrook but are expected to be finally recycled at a plant of the Hydrovolt joint venture, in which Northvolt holds a stake.
