The BMW Group has commissioned its Cell Recycling Competence Centre (CRCC) in Salching, Lower Bavaria, and started direct recycling of battery cell materials there together with its partner Encory. Once fully operational, the facility will recover tens of tonnes of battery cell materials per year and return them directly to production at the Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre (CMCC) in Parsdorf.

The plant processes two material streams: residues from battery cell manufacturing and entire cells from pilot production. Unlike conventional recycling routes, the direct recycling technique developed by BMW is mechanical. It avoids the energy-intensive chemical or thermal treatments that dominate established battery recycling, because the materials do not have to be broken down into their basic constituents. Instead, they re-enter the battery cell production cycle directly — a route the company says saves both costs and resources.

A closed loop across three Bavarian sites

The CRCC completes a three-site battery cell network that BMW has concentrated in Bavaria, with each location building on the previous one. The Battery Cell Competence Centre (BCCC) in Munich handles cell development. Parsdorf, near Munich, runs pilot production and scaling for mass production. Salching, roughly 100 kilometres to the northeast, closes the loop by recycling and recirculating materials. What is developed in Munich grows in Parsdorf and returns to the material cycle via Salching — all in close geographic proximity.

Markus Fallböhmer, Head of Battery Production at BMW AG, framed the significance of the process: "Our direct recycling process puts us at the forefront of the industry and has tremendous potential to further optimise battery cell production."

Direct recycling is the result of intensive development work at BMW and is now being implemented at larger scale in Salching for the first time. In the longer term, BMW sees potential for cell manufacturers to apply the method in series production as well.

Facility footprint and operating structure

The CRCC occupies a pre-existing hall in Salching. Roughly 2,100 square metres are dedicated to production and warehousing, with about 350 square metres of office space and break rooms. Rooftop photovoltaics cover a share of the site's energy demand.

Encory GmbH built the facility and operates it, but the intellectual property for the direct recycling method remains fully with BMW. Encory is a 50:50 joint venture between BMW and the Interzero Group, developing logistics and consulting solutions for the recovery, recycling and reprocessing of vehicle components. The centre will employ about 20 people.

BMW also emphasised regional sourcing during construction. With the exception of one Swiss firm, the company commissioned work from German contractors only — almost half of them based within a 100-kilometre radius of Salching.

Part of a broader circularity strategy

The CRCC forms one element of BMW's circular economy strategy, structured around four principles the company calls 4Re: Re:Think processes, Re:Duce resources, Re:Use materials and Re:Cycle raw materials. The stated aim is for vehicles to become sources of raw materials at the end of their life cycle.

BMW already incorporates recycled and reused materials in its vehicles, and that share continues to grow, according to the company. Selected production residues go back to material suppliers and processors, who recover valuable components and feed them into new production cycles. Direct recycling at Salching extends this approach: it avoids energy-intensive processing and keeps materials circulating within BMW's own production cycle, reducing demand for newly extracted raw materials.

The Salching start-up marks the transition of BMW's direct recycling from development project to operating plant. The next milestone to watch is whether the tens-of-tonnes-per-year throughput at the CRCC scales beyond pilot-scale residues — and whether the process moves from BMW's internal loop into series cell production, where its cost and energy advantages would face industrial volumes.