Page 171 - CW E-Magazine (17-6-2025)

News from Abroad

BATTERY RECYCLING

BASF begins operations at black mass plant

in Germany

BASF’s battery recycling business significant growth opportunities in the
has announced start of commercial chemical industry and for BASF Bat-
operation of its black mass plant in tery Materials,” said Dr. Daniel Schön-
Schwarzheide, Germany. The facility felder, President of BASF’s Battery
is one of the biggest commercial black Materials division.
mass plants in Europe, with a process-
ing capacity of up to 15-ktpa of end-of- BASF’s offering in Europe covers
life lithium-ion batteries and produc- all steps along the battery recycling
tion scrap. This equals roughly 40,000 value chain, from collecting end-of-
electric vehicle batteries per year. rials (CAM): lithium, nickel, cobalt, life batteries and production scrap,
and manganese. These valuable metals discharging and dismantling, as well
Battery recycling is a key factor in can be chemically recovered and used as black mass production and refin-
increasing independence from primary to produce new CAM, enabling circu- ing – leveraging a partner network in
raw material sources and meeting the larity and reducing the carbon footprint addition to BASF’s own black mass
ambitious requirements of circular compared to using only primary raw production facility. In addition to the
economy policies. Black mass produc- materials. new black mass production, BASF also
tion is a key step in the battery recycling operates in Schwarzheide Europe’s
process and is based on mechanical “Our new black mass plant is another first fully automated CAM production,
treatment of batteries. The black mass proof for our commitment to the bat- a prototype metal refinery for battery
contains high amounts of key metals tery materials and recycling industry, recycling, and one of Europe’s largest
used to produce cathode active mate- which remains to be one of the most black mass storage facilities.

GREEN GOALS
Venator hits key waste reduction target six years

ahead of schedule

Venator, a UK-based speciality example, the business achieved 100% oxide (NOx) and sulphur oxide
chemicals firm and a key supplier of beneficial use of non-hazardous waste (SOx) emissions;
titanium dioxide, has managed to reduce and co-products at its Huelva, Spain * A 21% reduction in total absolute
its generation of non-hazardous waste and Uerdingen, Germany sites. In water consumption; and
by nearly 100-kt – almost six years 2024, the business also sold or reused * A 23.5% decrease in water with-
ahead of its committed target of 2030. 98% of copperas by-product produced drawal.
through its PIP plant at Teluk Kalong,
The achievement was announced in Malaysia. In 2024, Venator also set out a staged
Venator’s 2024 Sustainability Report, approach to decarbonising its sites,
which was published on World Envi- Other achievements, enabled by ope- beginning with its Greatham, UK facility.
ronment Day. rational efficiencies and site transition The business has recently completed a
activities, included: study on the infrastructure required to
Operational changes and co-pro- * A lower overall waste intensity utilise hydrogen as a replacement for
duct utilisation were pivotal to Vena- metric from 0.54 to 0.47 tonnes of natural gas on-site. If implemented, this
tor hitting its non-hazardous waste tar- waste per tonne of product; investment would make Greatham one
get early, with efforts made across the * A 12.1% reduction in scope 1 and 2 of, if not the, lowest carbon footprint
business to recover, reuse, and recycle greenhouse gas emissions; manufacturing plants in the titanium
by-products wherever possible. For * A continued reduction in nitrogen dioxide industry.

Chemical Weekly June 17, 2025 171

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