Tozero has opened its first industrial demonstration facility. With the location at Chemiepark Gendorf, the Munich startup is taking the next step from pilot operation to industrial scale. The facility will process more than 1,500 tons of battery waste annually. Tozero aims to recover high-purity lithium carbonate, graphite and a nickel-cobalt mixture from this material.
For Tozero, the facility is more than just a new location. The recycling startup sees it as a starting point for domestic supply of critical raw materials. The focus is on materials needed for the battery industry, electromobility and the energy transition.
Sarah Fleischer, co-founder and CEO of Tozero, says:
“Europe currently does not have the critical raw materials it needs to build and scale its energy transition and battery industry on its own. Our technology enables us to recycle old batteries and recover high-purity raw materials at industrial scale for the first time.”
Tozero relies on old batteries as a raw material source
The technical basis of the facility is a proprietary, acid-free hydrometallurgical process. Tozero aims to recover lithium, graphite and other critical raw materials from old batteries and feed them back into industrial supply chains. The materials should be so pure that they can be used directly in production again.
According to the company, the recovered lithium carbonate is sufficient for battery materials for approximately 6,000 electric vehicles. Tozero also aims for a recovery rate of 80 percent of critical raw materials. The startup also states that it has already qualified recycled lithium and graphite together with cathode and anode manufacturers for lithium-ion batteries.
The start of the facility comes at a time of Europe’s growing raw material needs: global demand for lithium is expected to quadruple by 2030, according to the company. In the EU alone, demand for graphite could increase by up to 25 times by 2040. At the same time, Europe remains heavily dependent on imports according to Tozero: China controls global graphite supplies and 99 percent of lithium in Europe comes from abroad.
Tozero therefore relies on used batteries as an important raw material source. Through recycling, the Munich startup wants to recover critical raw materials from used batteries and feed them back into industrial supply chains, which would reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
Blueprint for 2030
With the new facility, Tozero combines two goals: its own growth and the development of a European supply chain for critical battery raw materials from recycling. By 2030, the startup plans a commercial facility at full scale.
Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, co-founder and CTO of Tozero, says:
“Scaling our technology from the laboratory to industrial production in such a short time is a decisive milestone for any deeptech founder and marks the transition from development to real validation at industrial scale.”
Tozero was founded in 2022 by Sarah Fleischer and Ksenija Milicevic Neumann. Since then, the Munich startup has progressively expanded its technology. According to its own statements, Tozero now works with partners in ten European countries.
