High Voltage Battery Raw Material Recycling for “Metal Mines on Wheels”
BMW Establishes Closed-Loop Recycling of High Voltage Battery Raw Materials and Intensifies Reuse of End-of-life Batteries

• Closed-loop recycling of high voltage battery raw materials realised for the first time, effectively reducing CO2 emissions 70% over primary materials
• Battery reuse scenarios expanded
• Upgraded battery tracing system to track the battery through the entire lifecycle

(Shenyang) On May 25th, the BMW Group announced a new cooperation with partner Zhejiang Huayou Recycling Technology Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Huayou Recycling”) for the closed-loop recycling of raw materials in retired high voltage batteries from BMW electrified vehicles. The partnership will see the dismantled raw materials, such as nickel, lithium and cobalt, from retired batteries returned to BMW's battery suppliers to produce new high voltage batteries.

This is the first example of closed-loop recycling of high voltage battery raw materials within BMW Group. By achieving a closed-loop, BMW will maximise the residual value of its end-of-life high voltage batteries and reduce the need for raw material extraction, resulting in a 70% reduction in carbon emissions. An important step for BMW in its ambition to produce “the greenest electric vehicle”, the cooperation engages upstream and downstream industry partners and paves the way for a more sustainable and resource-efficient high voltage battery industry.

China’s high voltage battery industry has developed rapidly in line with the fast growth of the electric vehicle market since 2015. Now, the batteries found in the early wave of electric vehicles are approaching their end-of-life. According to data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, it is expected that the total amount of end-of-life high voltage batteries in China will reach 780,000 tons in 2025. Moreover, the price of the mined raw materials used in the manufacturing of high voltage batteries has skyrocketed in recent years and threatens to become unsustainable in the long-run – which is why batteries from electric vehicles are sometimes referred to as “metal mines on wheels”. As well as the environmental benefits of recycling end-of-life high voltage batteries, the industry will also benefit through the alleviation of supply bottlenecks and stabilisation of raw materials prices.

Jochen Goller, President and CEO of BMW Group Region China, said: "Against the backdrop of increasing scarcity of finite resources and rising commodity prices, it is particularly important to promote the circular economy, increase the proportion of reused materials and reduce dependence on raw materials. In the future, BMW Group will further implement the recycling concept in China, which not only contributes to environmental protection but also effectively supports China's transition to a low-carbon economy."

From an industry perspective, the recycling of end-of-life high voltage batteries is mainly divided into two categories: reuse or disassembly and recycling. Following the principle of “First Reuse”, end-of-life high voltage batteries with high residual capacity are reused for energy storage or in low-speed electric vehicles. Batteries that cannot be reused in this way are instead dismantled, crushed and screened to extract core raw materials like nickel, cobalt and lithium, which are used again in the production of new high voltage batteries. In order to maximise the recycling rate, BMW recycles 100% of its end-of-life high voltage batteries in China, including customer car batteries, sourced via dealers, and production test batteries from BMW plants in Shenyang.

Closed-loop recycling of high voltage batteries achieves 100% return of core raw materials to BMW’s supply chain

Since high voltage batteries contain many metal elements, they must be recycled properly once they reach their end of life or risk not only wasting resources but also causing irreversible environmental damage. BMW Group is committed to implementing circularity and working with suppliers to maximise the recycling rate of High voltage battery raw materials.

In August 2021, China introduced guidelines on the reuse of new energy vehicle high voltage batteries that encourages cooperation among electric vehicle manufacturers, battery manufacturers, and recycling specialists to ensure the efficient and sustainable recycling of end-of-life high voltage batteries.

According to the new agreement, BMW and Huayou Recycling will partner to dismantle high voltage batteries. With Huayou Recycling’s advanced green metallurgical technology, core raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium in high voltage batteries can be successfully extracted. Different from previous method of high voltage battery disassembly and recycling, whereby the core raw materials are extracted and then made available on the market for all battery manufacturers, the new agreement will see 100% of the core raw materials returned to BMW's own supply chain. This guarantees that the recycled raw materials are reused to produce new high voltage batteries for BMW's new energy vehicles, achieving a closed loop of resources. This will result in a 70% reduction in the carbon emissions generated by mineral extraction, significantly decreasing the carbon footprint of the entire high voltage battery lifecycle.

"The high voltage battery recycling industry is growing in China, and the successful collaboration between BMW and Huayou Recycling of high voltage battery circularity is an industry-leading example. Not only will it help us to further reduce the lifecycle CO2 emissions of our BMW cars, but it will explore the effective business model of high voltage battery circularity right along the value chain, and eventually contribute to the sustainable development of the entire high voltage battery industry in China”, said Dr. Franz Decker, President and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd.

Investigating new ways to reuse high voltage batteries

The BMW Group and Huayou Recycling have been investigating how high voltage batteries can be reused since 2020. The partnership resulted in BMW becoming the first automotive manufacturer to successfully reuse high voltage batteries in China, with a project that utilized end-of-life high voltage batteries to power forklifts. Now, the BMW Group and Huayou Recycling are deepening this cooperation with a project to reuse high voltage batteries in different scenarios across BMW’s production plants in Shenyang. Both parties are continuing to explore various application scenarios, with forklifts, pallet lifting trucks and stationary energy storage all considered potential new homes for end-of-life BMW high voltage batteries.

Upgraded battery tracing system to track the entire high voltage battery lifecycle

BMW Group has been tracing its High voltage batteries through production to retirement and recycling since 2017. Now, its battery tracing system is being upgraded to track the entire lifecycle of every high voltage battery from production to retirement, recycling and then to production again, achieving closed-loop traceability. With the upgraded system, BMW will have full and transparent data of all its high voltage batteries and the raw materials inside. It will ensure all high voltage battery raw materials can be returned to BMW’s supply chain to achieve high voltage battery circularity.

Making car design and production processes circular

By 2030, the BMW Group aims to reduce average carbon emissions per vehicle throughout its lifecycle by at least 40% compared to 2019 and reduce its overall CO2 emissions by more than 200 million tons. To achieve these targets, BMW Group is introducing sustainable development strategies and circular concepts into the entire lifecycle of its products and working with upstream and downstream industry partners to reduce overall carbon emissions and intensify circularity.

BMW Group is now focusing on a Circular Design concept, which takes raw material circularity into account from the very beginning of car design to guarantee that more material on the vehicles is recyclable. BMW cars on the market today are manufactured using almost 30% recycled and reusable materials on average. The BMW Group plans to gradually increase this figure to 50% in the coming years. The company is also continuing to explore new ways of embedding circular concepts in its operations, including in production processes that separate and recycle key materials for reuse within a closed-loop system.

The partnership with Huayou Recycling to achieve the closed-loop recycling of high voltage battery raw materials and increase the reuse of high voltage batteries is a clear demonstration of BMW Group's support for China's dual carbon goals and the concept of circular economy. In support of its ambition to build “the greenest electric vehicle", BMW is continuously strengthening its collaboration with upstream and downstream industry partners to promote the green, circular and high-quality development of China's high voltage battery industry.