Tozero specialises in recovering lithium carbonate from black mass and has now announced the first delivery of the corresponding recyclate. The delivery to Botz GmbH, a specialist in ceramic colours, shows that Tozero can produce recycled lithium carbonate to the requirements of an industrial customer. The shipment marks the beginning of fulfilling a long-term, binding supply contract with regular batches.
The recyclate is produced in a demonstration plant opened in March at the Gendorf chemical park in Upper Bavaria. The site is located just a few kilometres from the German-Austrian border and is expected to process around 500 tonnes of battery waste per year.
Processing black mass, the chemical mix after batteries are collected and crushed, is currently dominated by China, where more than 85% of global refining capacity is concentrated. The remaining capacity is highly concentrated elsewhere in Asia.
Daniel Schulze Zur Verth, Managing Director of Botz GmbH, states: “Receiving recycled lithium carbonate from tozero marks an important milestone in our collaboration and reflects our shared ambition to build more sustainable, resilient and regionally anchored supply chains. Increasing the use of recycled raw materials will be an important part of reducing reliance on primary resources and lowering the environmental footprint of industrial production.”
Tozero was founded in 2022 and has developed an efficient process to recover high-purity lithium and graphite from used batteries. The startup aims to recover over 80 per cent of the lithium from old batteries. Tozero focuses on processing the black mass containing valuable battery active materials, while battery dismantling is outsourced to specialised partners.
Dr Ksenija Neumann, founder and Co-CEO of Tozero, said, “Delivering a product that meets the requirements of an industrial customer is an important moment for any deep-tech company. It reflects years of dedication, problem-solving and determination by our team. From the beginning, we believed that innovation needs to have a clear industrial purpose and that every euro invested should move us closer to creating real value for our customers.”
Although Tozero already delivered its first batches of recycled material to European customers in 2024, this lithium was still produced on a small scale from the pilot plants in Munich. With the demonstration plant in Gendorf, near Munich, the plant’s output is expected to increase to scale. The company is also expanding its network and, according to its own statements, now works with partners in ten European countries. The recycled lithium carbonate is currently being sold primarily to customers in the construction, ceramics, and lubricants sectors. Further raw materials and industries are to follow, says Tozero. The German company says it is also targeting the battery industry, with the long-term goal of returning recycled lithium from end-of-life batteries directly to battery cell production. The first prerequisite is the recovery of battery-grade lithium.
