Salzgitter Recycling Pilot Plant

Volkswagen Group Components · Salzgitter, Germany · Black mass

Battery recycling plant operated by Volkswagen Group Components in Salzgitter, Germany. Status: operational.

Salzgitter Recycling Pilot Plant: recycling plant illustration with pack, shredder, black mass, leach tanks and salt bags; Black mass, status operational, Germany Black mass Operational Germany
Capacity
1,500 t/yr
Process
Mechanical
Output
Black mass
Hub
Supply Chain

Status

Operational: Pilot recycling plant opened 2021

Process: mechanical. Capacity: 1,500 t/yr (Pilot capacity (Volkswagen, 2021)).

VW second-life at Salzgitter; co-located with PowerCo gigafactory; ID.4 and e-Golf pack refurbishment into stationary storage; EU Battery Regulation second-life traceability compliance.

Customers and offtakers: Grid operators / fleet operators.

Plant record

Plant record

Salzgitter Recycling Pilot Plant (Volkswagen Group Components)
CompanyVolkswagen Group Components
PlantSalzgitter Recycling Pilot Plant
CitySalzgitter
State or provinceLower Saxony
CountryGermany
TypeRecycler
Processmechanical
Output stageblack mass
Input chemistriesNMC (ID.4 / e-Golf packs)
Output productsBlack mass
Capacity (t/yr input)1500
Capacity basisPilot capacity (Volkswagen, 2021)
Statusoperational
Status notePilot recycling plant opened 2021; legacy record called it second life
Scalepilot
Start year2021
Investment (US$ billion)0.1
Customers and offtakersGrid operators / fleet operators
OEM partnershipsVW Group (captive)
Under EU Battery RegulationYes
Geopolitical exposureLOW
Record updated2026-10

In context

Where it fits

Listed in EV Battery Recycling Facilities; owner profile: Volkswagen Group. Recyclers are compared on where they stop: shredding to black mass, smelting to alloy, or refining to battery-grade salts that go back into cathode plants; only refining keeps the metal in the region. See Battery Recycling for the process and the market.

Other plants of Volkswagen Group Components and other plants in Germany
PlantCountryStatus
Krefeld Plant (Accurec Recycling)Germanyoperational
Schwarzheide Black Mass Plant (BASF)Germanyoperational
Leipzig Battery Refurbishment (BMW Second Life)Germanyoperational
Magdeburg Spoke (Glencore (formerly Li-Cycle))Germanyoperational
Hilchenbach Plant (Primobius (SMS group and Neometals))Germanyoperational
Multiple EU Sites (REMONDIS Battery Recycling)Germanyoperational
Dormagen Plant (Cylib)Germanyunder construction

Sources

Sources and scope

Scope
Salzgitter Recycling Pilot Plant (Volkswagen Group Components)
Sources
ElectronsX recycling dataset; company disclosures
Updated
2026-10