BMW Group Australia has partnered with battery recycler EcoBatt to launch a new program targeting high-voltage electric vehicle (EV) batteries that have reached the end of their operational life or been damaged.
The collaboration enables more than 90% of materials extracted from batteries to be reused, supporting the BMW Group’s global commitment to establishing a circular economy in the automotive industry while preventing hazardous materials from reaching landfill.
The program covers batteries recovered from customers’ vehicles through the national BMW Group dealer network, with processing handled at EcoBatt’s facilities in Victoria.
New facility bolsters recycling capacity
The announcement follows EcoBatt’s unveiling of Australia’s first Lithium Battery and Battery-in-Devices Shredding (BIDS) Plant at its headquarters in Campbellfield, Victoria.
The facility uses advanced shredding and separation technology to recover valuable materials including metals and plastics for reuse. It has the capacity to process up to 5000 tonnes of batteries and embedded batteries annually.
The Campbellfield plant is the first of several BIDS facilities planned across the region, with new locations also scheduled for Western Australia and New Zealand.
The recycling process begins by transporting BMW and MINI high-voltage EV batteries from BMW dealer partners to EcoBatt’s Battery Discharge Plant in Campbellfield. There, batteries are discharged to safely remove residual energy and eliminate thermal risk prior to recycling.
Any recovered energy from the discharge process is captured and reused in the facility’s operations to minimise the carbon output of the recycling process.
The batteries are then mechanically shredded at the BIDS plant, enabling greater efficiency and higher levels of raw material extraction. Materials such as casings, plastics and metals are separated for further recycling.
The recycling process generates black mass, a valuable material containing lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite. The black mass is supplied to downstream refiners where the minerals and elements are recovered and returned to manufacturing supply chains to produce new high-voltage batteries.
Global sustainability efforts
The Australian recycling scheme aligns with similar efforts conducted by the BMW Group globally. In Germany, the BMW Group has a long-term partnership with SK tes to recover cobalt, nickel and lithium from used batteries and re-integrate the materials into the supply chain.
The BMW Group has owned and operated its own Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDC) in Germany for 30 years, where it recycles thousands of vehicles annually. The facility works in partnership with industry and academia to develop innovative methods to recycle battery electric vehicle (BEV) batteries.
The new Australian program represents an expansion of these circular economy principles to support the growing EV market locally while establishing critical recycling infrastructure for the automotive industry’s transition to electrification.
Automobile Magazine-AU
