EU Battery Alliance: Vice-President Šefčovič in Germany to inaugurate novel battery material production and recycling plant

Today, Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič is in Schwarzheide, Germany for the inauguration of Europe’s first co-located centre of battery material production and battery recycling, together with the German Vice-Chancellor and Minister for economy and climate action, Robert Habeck, and Brandenburg’s Minister-President, Dietmar Woidke.

The state-of-the-art production facility for high-performance and sustainably-produced cathode active materials, and the battery recycling plant will strengthen the European battery value chain. The plants cover the process from extraction of raw and active materials, production of batteries, up to their collection and recovery of minerals for their re-use in the production of new batteries.

The new BASF centre benefited from the work of the European Battery Alliance and was financed under an Important Project of Common European Interest (‘IPCEI’). With its focus on novel material production and recycling, it demonstrates how the EU can boost its competitiveness and reduce its dependencies in a key strategic sector, while accelerating the green transition.

The European Battery Alliance supported the development of 160 industrial projects, with 30 announced lithium-ion gigafactories in the pipeline, a remarkable progress in a very short-time. This showcases that concrete and significant results can be achieved when industrial players, researchers, and political leaders at all levels work together.