SALCHING, Germany—BMW and Encory have opened a new facility here to recycle batteries from electric vehicles.

The Cell Recycling Competence Center (CRCC) will recover raw materials from EV batteries and the battery manufacturing process. The raw materials are not entirely reverted to their original state, but are instead fed directly back into battery cell manufacturing. This direct recycling method eliminates the energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing that has previously been used to recycle batteries.

At the new CRCC, direct recycling will be scaled up and introduced in stages. At full capacity, the center will be able to produce several tons of battery materials annually. The recovered materials will sent to BMW’s EV battery factory in Parsdorf, Germany.