tozero GmbH announced on November 5, 2026, that it completed its first delivery of recycled lithium carbonate from its demonstration plant at Chemical Park Gendorf in Germany. The material was supplied to German ceramics producer Botz GmbH and tailored to the industrial customer’s requirements.
The shipment marks progress toward implementing a long-term binding offtake agreement between the companies and establishing recurring supply. Botz said increasing its use of recycled raw materials could help reduce reliance on primary resources and lower the environmental footprint of industrial production.
The lithium carbonate was recovered from lithium-ion battery waste. At the Gendorf plant, tozero is validating its recycling technology, product quality and process performance under customer-relevant conditions. Since operations began at the site, the company has focused on improving operational stability, validating the process at a larger scale and producing materials for customer qualification.
Rather than covering every stage of battery recycling, tozero focuses on recovering and refining critical raw materials from black mass. The company said this model reduces capital intensity and allows it to work with existing collection, preprocessing and industrial supply-chain partners. Its proprietary process can recover materials including lithium and graphite.
The company is also developing its technology for additional applications, including battery-grade lithium materials. Following progress at Gendorf and the start of customer deliveries, tozero is preparing for its next phase of industrial scale-up, drawing on the plant’s technical validation, operating experience and customer relationships.
Founded in 2022, Munich-based tozero develops processes for recovering critical raw materials from lithium-ion battery waste and reintegrating them into industrial supply chains. The company has conducted industrial validation activities with BMW and MAN and has raised €17 million from investors.
Source: tozero.solutions
