Tozero opens battery recycling plant

Tozero has opened its first industrial demonstration plant. Located in the Gendorf chemical park, the Munich-based startup is taking the next step from pilot operation to industrial scale. The plant is designed to process more than 1,500 tons of battery waste annually. Tozero plans to recover high-purity lithium carbonate, graphite, and a nickel-cobalt alloy from this waste.

For Tozero, the facility is more than just a new location. The recycling startup sees it as the starting point for a domestic supply of critical raw materials. The focus is on materials needed for the battery industry, electromobility, and the energy transition.

Sarah Fleischer, co-founder and CEO of Tozero, says:

"Europe currently lacks the critical raw materials it needs to build and scale its energy transition and battery industry on its own. Our technology enables us to recycle used batteries and, for the first time on an industrial scale, recover high-purity raw materials from them."

Tozero relies on used batteries as a raw material source

The plant's technical basis is a proprietary, acid-free hydrometallurgical process. Tozero aims to use this process to recover lithium, graphite, and other critical raw materials from used batteries and reintroduce them into industrial supply chains. The materials are intended to be so pure that they can be directly reused in production.

According to the company, the recovered lithium carbonate is sufficient for battery materials for approximately 6,000 electric vehicles. Tozero also aims for a recovery rate of 80 percent of the critical raw materials. The startup further states that it has already qualified recycled lithium and graphite for lithium-ion batteries in collaboration with cathode and anode manufacturers.

The plant's launch coincides with Europe's growing demand for raw materials: According to the company, global demand for lithium is expected to quadruple by 2030. Within the EU alone, graphite demand could increase up to 25-fold by 2040. At the same time, Tozero points out that Europe remains heavily dependent on imports: China controls global graphite supplies, and 99 percent of Europe's lithium comes from abroad.

Tozero therefore relies on used batteries as an important source of raw materials. Through recycling, the Munich-based startup aims to recover critical raw materials from used batteries and feed them back into industrial supply chains, thereby reducing dependence on foreign suppliers.

Blueprint for 2030

With the new plant, Tozero is pursuing two goals: its own growth and the establishment of a European supply chain for critical materials. Battery raw materials from recyclingThe startup plans to have a full-scale commercial plant by 2030.

Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, Co-founder and CTO of Tozero, says:

"Scaling our technology from the lab to industrial production in such a short time is a crucial milestone for any deeptech founder and marks the transition from development to real-world validation on an industrial scale."

Tozero was founded in 2022 by Sarah Fleischer and Ksenija Milicevic Neumann. Since then, the Munich-based startup has gradually expanded its technology. According to the company, Tozero now collaborates with partners in ten European countries.