Many people are thinking about buying an electric car. Librec AG is already working on their eco-friendly disposal: the company recycles lithium-ion batteries via a process that allows 97% of the recyclable materials to be reused.
Context
With the expansion of electromobility, the number of lithium-ion batteries providing the energy for electric motors is also growing – experts expect the number of EV batteries to increase sixfold by 2030. These units reach the end of their service life after 10 to 15 years, at which point it is possible to reuse individual healthy battery cells. The rest must be recycled. However, it is possible to recycle lithium-ion batteries on a large industrial scale, as demonstrated by Librec AG, founded in 2021: the firm has been operating a recycling plant with an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes, equal to 20,000 batteries, since October 2024. This should be enough to recycle all the lithium-ion batteries collected in Switzerland by the early 2030s.
Technology
With the support of Innosuisse, Librec has spent the past three years working with academic partners in Switzerland and abroad to optimise its processes. Disused batteries are discharged, dismantled and shredded in a high-tech shredder. Next, the electrolytes’ liquid components are removed. This is followed by the main step, which involves the removal of nickel, cobalt, lithium and other valuable materials from the battery electrodes – the ‘scraping’ process used for this is more efficient than previous melting and pyrolysis processes. Librec sends the resulting so-called ‘black mass’ to specialised companies that employ wet chemical processes to separate the recyclable materials so they can be used to manufacture new batteries.
Maturity
Librec’s main investors are the Hamburg-based metallurgy group Aurubis, Galliker Transport AG, and a Swiss industrial group. The company’s focus is on larger EV batteries, e.g. from cars, lorries or construction machinery. The volume of recycled batteries will be gradually increased from 2024, and the plant will switch from one-shift to three-shift operation in the medium term. At full capacity, 40 to 50 people will be employed. There are plans to set up two more recycling plants in eastern and western Europe, so that Librec can fulfil its aim of establishing itself as one of the top five European battery recyclers.
«With our recycling process, we can make all recyclable materials from lithium-ion batteries available for the production of new batteries.. » – Jodok Reinhardt, CEO of Librec AG
**This profile is taken from the 2nd edition of the Cleantech Startup Overview, published in 2024.Read the full report here.