Venerable German Companies Found Battery Recycling Joint Venture

It’s a sign of the times in the small northwestern German city of Meppen. Automobile distributor and servicer Lueg is partnering with the Deppe group to found a lithium battery recycling company, Re.Lion.Bat Circular.

Both firms look back on more than 120 years of history. Lueg is the oldest and largest service and distribution partner of Mercedes-Benz while Deppe is one of Germany’s leading waste-disposal companies.

Re.Lion.Bat Circular will offer the first total battery recycling system in Germany, promised the future chairman of the joint venture, Christoph Spandau, in a statement to the website recyclingportal.eu. The thermomechanical recycling system will go operational in 2024 with a capacity of 20,000 tons a year. That will be expanding in the years to follow to 60,000 tons.