{"id":15882,"date":"2024-11-12T12:06:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T12:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1411260"},"modified":"2024-11-12T12:06:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T12:06:33","slug":"battery-recycling-startup-tozero-bags-e11m-to-boost-europes-lithium-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=15882","title":{"rendered":"Battery recycling startup Tozero bags \u20ac11M to boost Europe\u2019s lithium supply"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1991, Sony brought the first rechargeable lithium-ion battery to market. The unique chemistry proved a game-changer in energy storage. Today everything from EVs to smartphones depends on it, with demand <\/span>skyrocketing<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

But lithium is rare, most of it comes from unstable markets outside Europe,<\/span> and its extraction can cause extensive pollution. We need more lithium to enable the green transition and yet, currently, its use is unsustainable \u2014 both environmentally and economically.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re stuck in a paradox. Munich-based startup Tozero believes that battery recycling offers a way out. <\/span><\/p>\n

Recycling batteries is far from a new concept, but the German venture claims its technology gets the job done more efficiently than existing methods and without the use of harmful acids.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n

\n

The ???? of EU tech<\/p>\n

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tozero was founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneur Sarah Fleischer and metallurgy expert Dr. Ksenija Milicevic Neumann. When the pair first met, they were working in the space industry. Three years later they teamed up to fix a pressing issue here on Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before founding Tozero, Neumann spent years at RWTH Aachen developing a breakthrough water-based carbonation process for extracting lithium and other elements like graphite from black mass. This powdery substance is produced after shredding and processing spent batteries.    <\/span><\/p>\n

Neumann\u2019s research gave Tozero a significant head-start. In just two years, the company has managed to break out of the lab and deliver its first batches of recycled lithium to customers. And today, the company announced it has raised \u20ac11mn in Series A funding as it looks to scale up at pace.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDespite our limited resources as a two-year-old startup we\u2019ve already made human history by being the first to ever deliver recycled lithium for end products in Europe,\u201d said Fleischer, the company\u2019s CEO.  <\/span><\/p>\n

NordicNinja, a Japan-backed European VC fund, led the funding round, bringing Tozero\u2019s total raised to a cosy \u20ac17mn. Other investors include automotive giant Honda, US venture firm In-Q-Tel, and engineering group JGC. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tozero will use the fresh capital to build its first industrial deployment plant. From 2026 onwards, the company plans to process 30,000 tonnes of battery waste annually. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tozero can technically just keep on growing as long as it receives a continuous supply of old batteries. And that shouldn\u2019t be too much of an issue. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lithium-ion production is set to almost <\/span>quadruple by 2030<\/span><\/a>. Meanwhile, regulations like the EU\u2019s <\/span>Battery Directive<\/span><\/a>\u2014which calls for at least 80% of lithium to be recovered from batteries by 2031\u2014add much-needed incentives. This is only good news for Tozero and other recycling upstarts, including Cylib, which is currently building <\/span>Europe\u2019s largest recycling plant for EV batteries<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, if Europe is to secure a sustainable supply of the lithium it so desperately needs, it must <\/span>expand local mining<\/span><\/a> and explore new battery technologies like sodium-ion, zinc-ion, and the holy grail \u2014 solid-state batteries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1991, Sony brought the first rechargeable lithium-ion battery to market. The unique chemistry proved a game-changer in energy storage. Today everything from EVs to smartphones depends on it, with demand skyrocketing. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15882"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}