Bringing Lithium-Ion Battery Waste tozero

Introduction

tozero is committed to its mission to truly bring lithium-ion battery waste to zero. With its novel hydrometallurgical (i.e. wet chemical) battery recycling approach, it can maximize the recovery of critical raw materials (lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite) from both lithium-ion batteries that have reached their end of life and scrap created during the production of new batteries.

Operational Pilot Plant

Proven on a daily basis in an operational pilot plant (commissioned in July 2023) close to Munich, Germany, tozero already now fulfills the recovery rates for critical raw materials from lithium-ion battery waste required by the recently enforced EU Battery Directive for 2027 and 2031. It has established itself as one of the leading battery recycling startups in Europe.

Environmental Impact

In addition, the use of less aggressive chemicals than competitors and a mostly closed circular production process reduces the carbon footprint for batteries using tozero’s recycled material compared to batteries using mined materials by up to 80%.

Funding and Scale-Up

Considering an initial pre-seed funding of EUR 3.5 million in 2022, receiving the EIC grant would allow to significantly accelerate tozero's scale-up to industry-scale commercialization and bridge the gap for the next funding round.

1. This includes additional funds from the EIC for the purchasing and in-house optimization of chemical reactors tailored to the innovative hydrometallurgical process of tozero.
2. It allows us to largely automate our processing and prepare for industry-scale processing.
3. It supports the creation of a full lifecycle assessment that is required to officially accredit our CO2e savings and helps to identify the largest lever to further reduce our environmental footprint.

All three aspects combined allow to reach an industrial scale proof of our operations and unlock a large equity financing round in 2026.