WA company Neometals running at full battery with Mercedes recycling deal

A Perth company has had a hand in designing a first-of-its-kind battery recycling plant in Europe for German auto giant Mercedes-Benz.

The factory opened on Monday in Kuppenheim in southern Germany and will house a new operation capable of shredding up old lithium-ion batteries, used in the likes of electric vehicles, and extract the leftover lithium, nickel and cobalt to be used again in new batteries.

Listed Perth company Neometals developed the technology in a 50:50 joint venture with German plant construction and mechanical engineering firm SMS, under a venture called Primobius.

Mercedes chair Ola Källenius said the new plant, which uses a mechanical-hydrometallurgical leaching and recovery process, is the first of its kind in Europe.

The plant’s expected recovery rate of 96 per cent is considered much higher than similar plants in Europe and is less energy intensive because it can smelt down the materials at a lower temperature. The facility is run 100 per cent on “green electricity”, according to Mercedes.

Once fully up and running, the plant will be able to extract enough material from old batteries to feed into production of some 50,000 new battery modules for new all-electric Mercedes-Benz models per year.

Commissioning is underway and final assembly is expected to “continue gradually” from here.

Neometals chief executive Chris Reed said the new plant for Mercedes-Benz was a “vital milestone” in affirming the $72 million WA company’s credibility.

The joint venture designed, fabricated and is in the process of installing the plant after being picked by Mercedes to deliver the new facility in March 2022.