Munich, March 27, 2026 – tozero, a European battery recycling startup, has begun operations at its first industrial demonstration plant in Bavaria, marking what the company describes as one of the fastest scale-ups in battery recycling to date. Located at Chemical Park Gendorf, the facility was established in just six months and will process over 1,500 metric tons of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries annually.
Using a proprietary, acid-free hydrometallurgical process, tozero recovers high-purity lithium carbonate, graphite, and a nickel-cobalt mixture in a single cycle. The output from one year of operation is equivalent to diverting enough battery materials to power approximately 6,000 electric vehicles from landfill, with the recovered materials ready for direct reuse in battery manufacturing.
tozero reports that it has already qualified its recycled lithium and graphite with leading anode and cathode producers. The company aims to support the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, which encourages 25% of critical raw materials to come from recycling by 2030, and to help Europe reduce its reliance on imports, particularly from dominant global suppliers.
Co-founder and CEO Sarah Fleischer noted that the rapid transition from lab-scale tests in 2022 to industrial operations demonstrates that recycling can deliver a circular, domestic supply chain for battery materials. Co-founder and CTO Dr. Ksenija Milicevic Neumann added that the demonstration plant will serve as a template for a full-scale commercial facility planned for 2030, capable of producing thousands of tons of lithium carbonate and graphite annually.
Global demand for lithium is projected to quadruple by 2030, and EU demand for graphite could grow by up to 25 times by 2040, driven by electric vehicles, grid storage, and industrial electrification. With Europe currently dependent on imported raw materials—and sitting on a growing stockpile of end-of-life batteries—recycling is positioned as an essential strategy to close the projected supply gap.
tozero has scaled rapidly since its 2022 founding, delivering recycled lithium to commercial customers within nine months of opening its pilot facility. The company has achieved lithium recovery rates above 80% and qualified 100% recycled graphite for industrial cell production. tozero collaborates with partners across ten European countries and has received global recognition for its innovation and impact.
Source: tozero Solutions News
