tozero: Critical Raw Material Recovery for Europe’s Battery Future

tozero: Critical Raw Material Recovery for Europe’s Battery Future

Lithium-ion batteries play an increasingly important role in electric mobility, energy storage, and consumer electronics. Yet the rapid growth of battery manufacturing also creates a parallel challenge: how to secure critical raw materials while reducing dependence on imported virgin resources. As Europe expands its battery value chain, new recycling approaches are emerging that aim to turn end-of-life batteries and production scrap into strategic material sources. tozero, founded in Munich in 2022, develops a proprietary technology that recovers lithium and graphite from used lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing waste. The company focuses on advanced recycling processes that address material streams often insufficiently recovered in conventional battery recycling. By extracting critical raw materials from battery waste, the technology aims to strengthen circular supply chains and support a more resilient European battery ecosystem.

Technology and Product

Lithium-ion batteries contain valuable materials that are essential for modern electrification technologies. tozero develops recycling processes designed to recover lithium and graphite from black mass and battery production scrap. The company’s proprietary technology focuses on extracting these critical raw materials in a form that can be reintroduced into industrial supply chains. Through its acid-free hydrometallurgical process, which takes place in a single process cycle, tozero aims to recover materials at a purity level suitable for direct reintegration into manufacturing. By addressing a major gap in conventional battery recycling, where lithium and graphite often remain underutilized, the technology supports circular battery production and reduces reliance on primary raw material extraction.

tozero develops recycling processes designed to recover lithium, graphite and other materials. (© tozero)

Industrial Fit and Applications

The company positions its recycling technology as a way to integrate raw material recovery directly into this developing battery ecosystem. Typical application areas include end-of-life electric vehicle batteries, battery cell production scrap, and other lithium-ion battery waste streams. In this context, tozero’s approach supports resource security and a more circular European battery industry. Its relevance is highest in recycling streams where lithium and graphite recovery has historically remained both technically complex and commercially limited.

According to tozero, the company has about 1,500 tonnes of battery waste recycling capacity per year online today. (© tozero)

Founding Team

tozero was founded by Sarah Fleischer (CEO) and Dr. Ksenija Milicevic Neumann (CTO), who lead the company with a focus on battery circularity and resource recovery. The founding team combines expertise in engineering, technology development, entrepreneurship, and industrial scaling. Their work centers on building recycling infrastructure for Europe’s battery value chain.