Chinese investor plans EUR-100m battery recycling plant in Germany

Chinese company Botree Cycling (Ltd.) is planning to invest up to EUR 100 million (USD 104.13m) to build a plant for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries in a town in northeast Germany.

The Beijing-based investor has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the town of Guben in Brandenburg for the project that involves also the creation of a training centre for up to 30 young specialists, the municipality of Guben said in a press release.

Botree Cycling is planning to buy two land plots of a combined 3.8 hectares (9.39 acres) in Guben's industrial zone and put the planned recycling facility into operation in 2025. The plant will be the company's first one in Europe. Botree Cycling was founded in 2019 and specialises in processes and equipment for the extraction of rare metal resources and the recycling of rare metal materials.

The site in Guben was selected in cooperation with the Economic Development Agency Brandenburg (FWBB) and Germany Trade and Invest mbH (GTAI) after a detailed analysis of a number of potential sites.

Guben is located in Lusatia which was home to a number of coal mines in the past but now is making decisive steps to become Germany's green powerhouse with a plan to deploy 7 GW of renewable energy by the end of this decade.

Botree Cycling's investment proposal follows cleantech company Rock Tech Lithium's plan to set up a lithium-hydroxide converter in Guben's industrial zone with commissioning expected in 2025.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.041)

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