The laser systems, which were on display this week at The Battery Show Europe 2024, safely cut used batteries and extract valuable raw materials from the battery foil.
Hagen Zimer, CEO of laser technology at Trumpf, said, “Recycling batteries makes ecological sense and, thanks to laser technology, can now also be implemented economically. Trumpf has extensive expertise in laser welding and cutting for the production of e-car batteries, developed through years of collaboration with leading car and battery manufacturers.”
The recycling of EV batteries is crucial due to the reliance on expensive and sometimes unsustainable raw materials such as cobalt, lithium and nickel. The EU mandates a recycling rate of up to 90% for batteries.
Alexander Sauer, head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, emphasized the necessity of large-scale recycling. Europe alone will need to recycle 570,000 tons of battery material annually by 2030. “The industry therefore has to recycle on a large scale. The market for laser processes for recycling batteries, which is currently emerging, is huge,” Sauer said.
Trumpf says laser processes can remove the valuable coatings from foil strips used in battery cells, enabling manufacturers to reclaim and reuse the materials. This method is designed to prevent large amounts of coated foil from being discarded as waste.
Additionally, the Trumpf laser technology also enables efficient and automated dismantling of battery packs, allowing the removal of covers and cutting of cables, in turn facilitating the sorting raw materials and and separating of reusable battery cells.