Until recently, batteries were regarded as hazardous waste. They can actually serve as valuable sources of raw materials. That’s why the engineers of the component department are working on a recycling concept for batteries. The aim: to return raw materials to the manufacturing process chain.
“For ten years now, we have been researching how we can recuperate raw materials. These include, above all, cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel” explains Thomas Tiedje, Head of Technical Planning. Another reason why multiple use of these four raw materials in particular is so important and useful is that their extraction and use is crucial for a company’s carbon footprint.
“We already have sustainable battery expertise in the Group and are developing this further,” says Tiedje. For months now, the management and workforce at the components plant in Braunschweig have been preparing for the high-voltage era. The first “power plants” for the I.D. electric car family are to leave the plant at the end of 2019.