Sustainable Battery Recycling in Thuringia:
Zirkat Project Launched

Lithium Iron Phosphate Cathode Material Raw Materials for Circular Economy

To reduce the use of finite resources in the long term, the European Commission has introduced mandates for battery and car manufacturers, requiring the use of recycled battery materials and promoting the development of a circular economy in the battery ecosystem. This makes the approach to using recycled battery materials in new batteries all the more promising.

To explore this potential, we have launched a groundbreaking research project on lithium-ion battery recycling with partners in Thuringia, Germany. Under the name "ZirKat," several companies and research institutions are working to recover valuable raw materials from aging or defective batteries and make them usable to produce new batteries. The acronym ZirKat stands for the recycling of raw materials from lithium iron phosphate cathode material for the sustainable use of resources in battery production.

Lithium Iron Phosphate Cathode Material Raw Materials for Circular Economy

LFP batteries are essential for electromobility and sustainable energy transition. They are used not only in electric vehicles, but also in stationary electricity storage systems for the intermediate storage of green electricity. In the ZirKat project, we focus on the recycling of cathode materials, which is crucial for the performance of these batteries.

The recycling process is clearly structured so that each partner contributes its specific expertise:

  • IBU-tec provides the starting material, our IBUvolt® LFP400.
  • Various partners process the LFP into battery components and use it in new batteries; after use, the batteries are shredded and separated into their components
  • The lithium is then recovered from the residual materials.
  • The quality and composition of the recycled material is verified by an analytical partner.
  • The recycled IBUvolt®LFP400 and the hydrometallurgically processed lithium hydroxide are returned to IBU-tec, where they are reintegrated into our LFP400 synthesis and compared with the original material.

Through targeted removal of impurities and optimized processing, the recovered material is to be returned to the cycle and used to produce new batteries. This not only conserves valuable raw materials but also reduces the environmental impact of battery waste. As a result, the cycle remains closed and valuable raw materials can be efficiently reused.

Strong Partnership for a Sustainable Recycling Process

As project coordinator, the University of Applied Sciences Nordhausen is responsible for central tasks in mechanical processing, such as shredding and sorting of battery materials. K-UTEC AG from Sondershausen contributes its expertise in chemical processing, while IBU-tec is responsible for thermal treatment. This is where we can bring in our expertise and contribute to the development of sustainable recycling solutions. The high-quality standards of the recycled material are monitored by Analytik Jena.

We at IBU-tec are proud to be part of this forward-looking project and to collaborate with our partners on innovative solutions for sustainable battery recycling. The recovery of valuable raw materials is a decisive step towards a resource-saving closed-loop economy - and we look forward to contributing our expertise!

Together with partners from industry and science, the research group forms a competence cluster for Thuringia and is funded as part of the research and development project "Thuringia Verbund Dynamik" and co-financed by the European Union as part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF program 2021-2027).

Project name:Circulating raw materials from lithium iron phosphate cathode material for sustainable use of resources in battery production
Funding code:2023 VDY 0022
Project:Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Rutz
Runtime:08/2024 – 07/2025
zoom