The BMW Group has launched a new battery recycling facility in Germany aimed at keeping battery raw materials inside the production loop, rather than recovering them at the end of a vehicle’ life.
The Cell Recycling Competence Centre (CRCC), located in Salching, Lower Bavaria, focuses on mechanical direct recycling of battery cells and production scrap.
The approach avoids chemical and thermal processing, which dominate most commercial battery recycling today.
BMW says the goal is to return recovered materials directly to battery cell manufacturing, reducing energy use, material losses, and reliance on newly mined raw materials.
The company developed the process with its joint venture Encory, which operates the facility.
Unlike end-of-life recycling plants, the CRCC primarily handles unused cells and residues from pilot production. These materials are more consistent than spent batteries, making them better suited for short-loop recycling.
Mechanical recycling, scaled
Conventional battery recycling often relies on energy-intensive smelting or chemical leaching to break materials down into their base elements.
BMW’s direct recycling approach keeps active materials largely intact, allowing them to be reused more quickly in new cells.
Once fully operational, the CRCC is expected to process tens of tonnes of battery materials each year.
Recovered materials will be sent back to BMW’s Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre in Parsdorf, closing the loop between pilot production and recycling.
BMW has concentrated battery expertise across three Bavarian sites. Cell development takes place in Munich, pilot production and scaling in Parsdorf, and recycling and material recirculation in Salching.
The company says keeping these stages geographically close improves efficiency and process control.
The Salching facility occupies around 2,100 square meters of production and warehouse space, with additional office areas. Rooftop solar panels supply part of the center’s energy demand.
“Our direct recycling process puts us at the forefront of the industry and has tremendous potential to further optimise battery cell production,” said Markus Fallböhmer, Head of Battery Production at BMW AG.
Circular economy, with limits
Direct recycling itself is not new. Researchers and startups have studied mechanical recovery of battery materials for years.
What makes BMW’s effort notable is its integration into industrial battery production rather than standalone recycling.
The company acknowledges that direct recycling will not replace chemical methods entirely, particularly for mixed or degraded end-of-life batteries. Instead, BMW sees mechanical recycling as one tool within a broader circular strategy.
Encory, a 50:50 joint venture between BMW Group and Interzero Group, built and operates the CRCC. The intellectual property behind the recycling process remains with BMW. The facility is expected to employ around 20 people.
BMW says most of the equipment and construction work was sourced from German companies, many located within 100 kilometers of Salching. Apart from one Swiss supplier, all contractors were domestic.
The CRCC forms part of BMW’s wider 4Re strategy: rethink processes, reduce resource use, reuse materials, and recycle raw materials.
The company says early-stage recycling of production scrap can cut demand for virgin materials while improving supply security for battery manufacturing.