German battery recycling scale-up cylib has secured €63.4 million in grant funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to expand its facility in Dormagen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The funding supports the second build-out phase of the site and enables the launch of Europe’s first industrial-scale recycling line dedicated to LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries.

Backed by the federal STARK programme, the expansion will double planned capacity to 60,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to around 140,000 electric vehicle batteries. Operations are scheduled to start in 2027.

From lab to pilot-scale operations to future-proofing Europe

Founded in Aachen in 2022, cylib has moved rapidly from laboratory research to pilot-scale operations and is now preparing full industrialisation at Chempark Dormagen. The company employs around 120 people and has raised more than €140 million to date through a combination of non-dilutive public funding and private capital. cylib is a member of the EIC Scaling Club in the Batteries & Energy Storage market group.  

The expanded facility will be able to process all major battery chemistries, including both NMC and LFP, from end-of-life batteries, production scrap and black mass. This capability addresses a growing gap in Europe’s battery value chain: while LFP batteries now account for close to half of global EV battery demand, Europe currently lacks dedicated industrial-scale recycling capacity for this chemistry.

By recovering critical raw materials domestically and achieving material recovery rates above 90%, cylib’s approach supports Europe’s goals on circularity, supply-chain resilience and reduced dependence on imported battery materials. The Dormagen site will operate with closed-loop water systems, minimal waste generation and full compliance with EU battery regulation.

As battery technologies and market dynamics continue to evolve, investments like this play a central role in building a resilient, future-proof European battery ecosystem.

About the EIC Scaling Club

The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.

The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.

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