Munich/Salching. The new Cell Recycling Competence Center (CRCC) in Salching in Lower Bavaria has now been officially commissioned – marking a major step forward in implementing innovative direct recycling as a joint project between the BMW Group and Encory GmbH. For construction and operation of the new Competence Center, the BMW Group and Encory are relying on regional partners.

Innovative direct recycling enables reuse of battery raw materials

Direct recycling allows residual materials from battery cell production, including complete battery cells, to be mechanically dismantled. The raw materials are not entirely reverted to their original state, but are instead “directly” fed back into the cell production cycle. This direct recycling methodology, developed by experts from the BMW Group, therefore eliminates the conventional, energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing previously required. At the new CRCC, direct recycling will be scaled up and introduced in stages until, once fully operational, the annual volume of battery cell material recycled will be in the mid-double-digit tonne range. Going forward, the recovered raw materials will be directly reused in pilot production of battery cells at the company’s own Cell Manufacturing Competence Center (CMCC) in Parsdorf.

Direct recycling: A process for the future

“Our direct recycling process puts us at the forefront of the industry,” explains Markus Fallböhmer, SVP of Battery Production at BMW AG. “This technology has tremendous potential to further optimise battery cell production.” It is also conceivable that, for the first time, cell manufacturers could be enabled to use direct recycling in series production.

Joint venture runs Competence Center – IP remains with BMW Group

An existing hall owned by the company Sturm in Salching in Lower Bavaria (Straubing-Bogen district) will be used for the new Competence Center. In addition to the production area and warehouse space of around 2,100 m², the building also offers just under 350 m² of offices and break rooms, as well as photovoltaic systems on the roof. While the Competence Center will be built and operated by Encory GmbH, the intellectual property for the recycling method is fully owned by the BMW Group. As a joint venture between the BMW Group and the Interzero Group, Encory will develop and implement logistics and consulting solutions, including for recovery, recycling and reconditioning of vehicle components. Both partners hold a 50-percent stake in the company. The new Competence Center will employ about 20 people.

Strong partners from the region

With the exception of one Swiss company, only German firms were contracted for the construction and operation of the Competence Center. Nearly half of these companies are located within a 100-kilometer radius of Salching.

Optimal location for new Competence Center in Bavaria

The BMW Group consolidates its battery cell expertise at its Competence Centers in Munich, Parsdorf and Salching. The Battery Cell Competence Center (BCCC) in the north of Munich offers state-of-the-art labs and research facilities for developing the battery cells for next-generation high-voltage batteries and producing them in small quantities. The best battery cell from the BCCC will be scaled up for series processes on a pilot line at the Cell Manufacturing Competence Center (CMCC) in Parsdorf. Recycling of surplus material from pilot production in Parsdorf will take place at the new Cell Recycling Competence Center (CRCC) in Salching. The recovered raw materials will then be reused in cell production, ensuring short distances between all Competence Centers and preventing valuable raw materials from being lost. Following on from the BCCC and CMCC, the CRCC thus represents the next step in the BMW Group’s battery cell strategy on the road to the circular economy.

Circular economy at the BMW Group

The BMW Group views the circular economy as one of the key issues in shaping more resource-efficient mobility. Its approach is aimed at finding the best ways to keep materials in the cycle – ensuring that resources are not lost, but retain their value for long-term use. The BMW Group applies the principles of Re:Think, Re:Duce, Re:Use and Re:Cycle. From vehicle design and production, to recycling and reuse, everything is geared towards ensuring that vehicles can serve as a source of raw vehicles at the end of their use phase. The BMW Group is taking steps to increase the percentage of recycled materials. It returns selected production residues to the material supplier or material processor, enabling their recovery and reintroduction into a new manufacturing process. In this way, recycled and reused materials are already making their way into BMW Group vehicles today. The circular economy requires holistic thinking – from product design, all the way through to vehicle recycling. 

Bornem. Precies een maand geleden schreef de BMW Group een nieuw hoofdstuk in haar geschiedenis met de lancering van de nieuwe generatie BMW iX3. Het allereerste model dat gebouwd is op de nieuwe, unieke ‘Neue Klasse’ architectuur: de basis voor een nieuw tijdperk dat volledig elektrisch, digitaal en circulair is.

Van 8 tot 12 oktober wordt het model in Belgische première voorgesteld tijdens het lifestyle-evenement Zoute Grand Prix in Knokke. Daar kunnen toekomstige klanten en het Belgische publiek kennismaken met het gloednieuwe elektrische model.

De nieuwe generatie BMW iX3 is een volledig elektrische Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) die een geheel nieuwe wereld van puur rijplezier inluidt. Een nieuwe ontwerptaal geeft de auto een karakteristieke uitstraling die een mooie weerspiegeling is van de technologische vooruitgang en innovaties van de groep. Met de zesde generatie BMW eDrive-technologie is een rijbereik tot 805 kilometer (WLPT) en een maximaal laadvermogen van 400 kW mogelijk.  De nieuwe BMW iX3 zet zo hogere standaarden op het gebied van efficiëntie, langeafstandsvermogen en rijplezier.

Dankzij een nieuwe elektronische softwarearchitectuur met vier krachtige ‘superbrain’-computers is het eerste model van de Neue Klasse beter dan ooit voorbereid op de toekomst. De ‘Heart of Joy’-technologie voor het beheer van de versnellingsbak en de rijdynamiek biedt een ongeëvenaarde wendbaarheid en precisie, terwijl de allernieuwste automatische rijsystemen de symbiotische interactie tussen mens en voertuig optimaliseren.

Alexander Wehr, CEO van BMW Group Belux: “Geen moment is beter geschikt om de start van een nieuw tijdperk van BMW in België te vieren dan de Zoute Grand Prix in Knokke. Prestaties en rijplezier blijven centraal staan in ons DNA, maar de nieuwe BMW iX3 brengt dit naar een nog hoger niveau. Met de Neue Klasse willen we het beste totaalpakket voor al onze klanten creëren. We introduceren een nieuw tijdperk waar duurzame innovatie en hoogwaardige elektromobiliteit de norm worden voor elk BMW-model en elke BMW-ervaring. Tegen 2027 zullen de technologieën van de Neue Klasse worden ingezet in 40 nieuwe modellen en hun updates.”

Praktische informatie:

De BMW iX3 zal te zien zijn in de Zoute Grand Prix Gallery by EY en naast de rijdende kunstwerken van BMW Art Car Word in de Approach golfclub in Knokke.

Adres Zoute Grand Prix Gallery by EY: Zeedijk – Albertplein 8300 Knokke-Heist.

Adres BMW Art Car World Tour: Approach golf Knokke - Prins Filiplaan 1, 8300 Knokke-Heist.

Nuttige links:

Voor meer informatie over de BMW iX3:

https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

Voor meer informatie over de Zoute Grand Prix:

https://www.zoutegrandprix.be/nl

De BMW Group

De BMW Group is met haar merken BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce en BMW Motorrad de voornaamste constructeur ter wereld van premium-wagens en motorfietsen en aanbieder van hoogstaande financiële diensten en mobiliteitsdiensten. Het productienetwerk van BMW Group omvat meer dan 30 productielocaties wereldwijd. De onderneming heeft een wereldwijd verkoopnetwerk met vertegenwoordigers in meer dan 140 landen.

In 2024 verkocht de BMW Group wereldwijd meer dan 2,45 miljoen auto's en meer dan 210.000 motorfietsen. Het resultaat voor belastingen in het boekjaar 2024 bedroeg € 11,0 miljard en de omzet € 142,4 miljard. Op 31 december 2024 telde de onderneming wereldwijd 159.104 werknemers.

Langetermijndenken en verantwoordelijk handelen waren altijd al de basis van het economisch succes van de BMW Group. Duurzaamheid is een belangrijk onderdeel van de bedrijfsstrategie van BMW Group, van de toeleveringsketen over de productie tot het einde van de levenscyclus van alle producten.

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+++ Geavanceerde fabriekslogistiek met 50 sleeptreinen en 140 Smart Transport Robots verwerken dagelijks ongeveer 10.000 transporten en leveren zo onderdelen aan de productie +++ Intelligente logistiek via cloud-gebaseerd transportsysteem zorgt voor optimale routebegeleiding en tijdige levering van onderdelen aan de assemblagelijn volgens leveringsprioriteit +++

Regensburg. Digital, automated and intelligently connected through the cloud: BMW Group Plant Regensburg is advancing the digitalisation and automation of its logistics – as a further milestone on the road to the digital factory of the future, the BMW iFACTORY. Every 57 seconds, a new vehicle rolls off the assembly line. Each one is unique, built to individual customer preferences from thousands of separate components. Every workday, up to 1,400 BMW X1 and BMW X2 vehicles are dispatched to customers worldwide, including classic combustion-engine vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fully-electric models.

The logistics behind this process are extremely complex: The components and individual parts required for production always need to be in the right place in the plant's vehicle assembly at the right time – delivered “just in time” and in the correct order, “just in sequence” – to create individually customised vehicles for customers. At the BMW Group site in Regensburg, this logistical task, which is essential for efficient production, is primarily handled by driverless, automated or autonomous transport systems that are intelligently connected through a cloud-based traffic control system known as BMW Automated Transport Services (ATS). In some cases, loading and unloading of transport vehicles is also fully automated.

Depending on the transport task, various types of driverless vehicles are used. For example, automated tugger trains transport small parts from the warehouse to the assembly line, while larger components weighing up to a tonne are handled by Smart Transport Robots (STR). These flat transport robots, developed by the BMW Group in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) about ten years ago, now operate autonomously using dedicated AI modules. Relying on sensors and software, the devices recognise their surroundings, allowing them to navigate around obstacles independently when oncoming traffic permits.

The transport devices are managed through the central cloud-based BMW traffic control system, ATS. When it is time to replenish supplies, an employee on the assembly line rotates the change frame with the empty parts containers and uses it to operate a so-called retrieval rocker. The control system then receives the signal indicating that new parts need to be delivered. In this way, the control system enables smooth and precisely timed delivery of materials, as well as maintaining intelligent traffic flow in the assembly hall. It also provides optimal route guidance, based on delivery priorities, and ensures transport devices are sensibly parked and their batteries sufficiently charged.

BMW Group Plant Regensburg currently enables intelligent connection between nearly 50 automated tugger trains and more than 140 Smart Transport Robots through the ATS control system. The fleet compromises both automated and autonomous devices from different manufacturers, handling approximately 10,000 part deliveries each workday.

“What makes this so unique are the many sequenced parts specifically tailored to each customer vehicle. They must all be delivered in the order they are installed on the assembly line. Even a brief system failure in the supply of sequenced parts would bring production to a halt – and, of course, that is something we want to avoid,” says Thomas Dietz, responsible for process improvement and quality management for Physical Logistics. “A lot of detailed work on both hardware and software was needed to reach the current status.”

The existing fleet is continuously being expanded to incorporate additional transport routes and vehicles. Plans are also in place to integrate additional types of autonomous vehicles into the control system, step by step, such as autonomous lifting trucks or automated forklifts. “Our vision of intelligently connected logistics, relying on a variety of different autonomous transport systems that seamlessly interact with one another – from small to extremely large – is gradually taking shape,” says Dietz.

The driverless logistics fleet is already being complemented by a recently commissioned autonomous transport vehicle in the Regensburg press shop with a payload capacity of 55 tonnes.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Christian Dürrschmidt, Communications Regensburg,
Cell phone: +49 151 6060 5194, Email: Christian.Duerrschmidt@bmw.de

Saskia Graser, head of Communications Regensburg and Wackersdorf,
Cell phone: +49 151 6060 2014, Email: Saskia.Graser@bmw.de

Media website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

Email: presse@bmw.de

The BMW Group
The BMW Group has viewed itself for decades as the benchmark for production technology and operational excellence in vehicle construction – including at its locations in Regensburg and Wackersdorf.
The BMW Group vehicle plant in Regensburg has been in operation since 1986 and is one of more than 30 BMW Group production locations worldwide. A total of up to 1,400 vehicles of the BMW X1 and BMW X2 models come off the production line at Plant Regensburg every workday – destined for customers all over the world. Different types of drive trains are flexibly manufactured on a single production line – from vehicles with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids, to fully-electric models.

High-voltage batteries for the electric models built in Regensburg are also produced locally, in direct proximity to the vehicle plant. They are assembled at the electric component production facility, which opened in 2021 at the Leibnizstrasse location.

BMW Innovation Park Wackersdorf also belongs to the Regensburg site. The 55-hectare campus built in the 1980s was originally intended as a nuclear reprocessing facility. The BMW Group has located its cockpit production there, as well as its parts supply for overseas plants. In addition to BMW as the largest employer, several other companies are also based at Innovation Park Wackersdorf. A total of around 2,500 employees work there. The BMW Group core staff at the Regensburg and Wackersdorf locations in eastern Bavaria is made up of around 9,250 employees, including more than 300 apprentices.

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