This partnership establishes a pan-European recycling program that recovers critical raw materials including cobalt, nickel, and lithium from used batteries.
By developing a closed-loop recycling model, the partnership aligns with both companies’ visions for a circular economy. SK tes’ expertise in extracting valuable materials from high-voltage batteries plays a crucial role in this initiative, ensuring that these materials are reintroduced into the value chain for the manufacture of new batteries. The collaboration also integrates the BMW Group directly in the recycling process by systemically including valuable feedback provided into its development function.
The recycling process at SK tes sees high-voltage batteries safely and securely discharged, disassembled and mechanically shredded before going through an enhanced separation process to extract a concentrated material called black mass. Commodity materials such as nickel, lithium, and cobalt are then extracted through a hydrometallurgy process. This secondary raw material is used in the electric vehicle battery supply chain to produce new batteries, including the GEN 6 drive train, providing a closed loop solution for BMW Group.
