The top 100 automotive supplier and the recycling scale-up from Aachen will be working together. The cooperation turns today's used batteries into tomorrow's urgently needed raw materials.
Aachen – 25 March 2025 - The growing number of used batteries due to the electrification of the automotive industry requires new solutions for their recycling. At the same time, the demand for materials such as lithium and graphite is increasing. Partnerships between automotive suppliers and recycling companies therefore play a central role when it comes to both meeting sustainability targets and ensuring the availability of raw materials.
Webasto and cylib have therefore signed a cooperation agreement. The agreement stipulates that the German recycling scale-up will collect and recycle used batteries and production waste from Webasto's battery production at its European sites. The family-owned company from Stockdorf near Munich has been producing battery systems for cars and commercial vehicles, among other things, since 2019.
The cylib recycling process
cylib relies on efficient and environmentally friendly battery recycling. All materials, including lithium and graphite, are fully recovered. The process combines mechanical, thermal and hydrometallurgical methods. Thanks to the minimal use of chemicals, the carbon footprint is up to 30 percent lower than with conventional methods. An innovative, water-based process also ensures particularly sustainable recovery of valuable raw materials. Webasto and cylib have been working together since 2023, including on "Design for Recycling" projects.
"Our recycling technology recovers all valuable materials from spent lithium-ion batteries, including lithium and graphite. The partnership with Webasto is an important step towards scaling up battery recycling. Together, we are securing the raw materials of tomorrow and driving forward the circular economy in Europe," says cylib co-founder and COO Dr. Gideon Schwich.
"Collaborations like the one between Webasto and cylib are in the interest of the entire European automotive industry, because they make the local raw material ecosystem more sustainable and resilient - ultimately benefiting everyone, right down to the end consumer," says Marcel Bartling, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Webasto.
Influence of the EU Battery Regulation
The EU Battery Regulation sets strict requirements for the sustainability and traceability of batteries. It stipulates that at least 70 percent of lithium and 95 percent of cobalt, nickel and copper must be recovered from used batteries by 2030. The recycling process from cylib already exceeds these requirements today and ensures that Webasto meets the future legal requirements
Webasto is also working intensively on the use of used batteries as a storage medium for a sustainable energy supply in production. A battery storage system with a capacity of one megawatt hour (MWh) went into operation at the Schierling plant in Bavaria in 2024. This uses 30 used batteries, most of which come from pre-series production, to store solar power generated in-house.
About Webasto
As a global innovative systems partner to the mobility industry, Webasto is one of the 100 largest suppliers to the automotive sector worldwide. In development, manufacturing and sales, the company focuses on roof systems on the one hand and on vehicle electrification on the other hand. The product range includes openable and fixed roofs, electric high-voltage heaters and batteries, as well as thermo management solutions. Among the customers of Webasto are manufacturers of passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and boats, as well as dealers and end customers. In 2023, the Group generated sales of around 4.6 billion euros and employed more than 16,600 people at over 50 locations. The headquarters of the company, which was founded in 1901, is located in Stockdorf near Munich (Germany). For more information, please visit www.webasto.com
About cylib
cylib is a company for holistic and sustainable battery recycling. The end-to-end process developed through many years of research at RWTH Aachen University is characterized by the efficient, resource- and climate-friendly recovery of raw materials such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and manganese from battery packs, black mass or production waste. By recycling sustainably sourced secondary raw materials, cylib enables a truly circular economy and resilient European supply chains. The company was founded in Aachen in 2022 by Dr.-Ing. Lilian Schwich (CEO), Paul Sabarny (CTO) and Dr.-Ing. Gideon Schwich (COO) and employs over 90 people.
Contact for the media
cylib GmbH
Rebekka Müller
Head of Public Relations
+49 (0) 241 9457360
pr@cylib.de