Productive.NRW

The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art battery recycling plant for the NMC battery types that dominate the market (nickel, manganese and cobalt oxide cathode with graphite anode). The first phase focuses in particular on recovering the raw materials lithium and graphite from the black mass using the so-called OLiC (Optimized Lithium & Graphite Recovery) process.

The aim of the project is to build the world's first factory for silicon carbide (SiC) in the sense of a circular economy. Silicon carbide has many uses: it is used in technical ceramics, the abrasives industry and in the solar and electronics sector, as well as in modern composite materials and particle filters. Specialty and ultra-fine grades of the material are particularly in demand and are primarily used for ceramic applications. In an innovative process, by-products and waste products of different material qualities from SiC refinement to SiC synthesis are reprocessed in a recycling process. The factory is expected to produce up to 6,000 tons of raw silicon carbide per year in a particularly energy-efficient manner.

The project comprises the development of a hydrogen filling system consisting of a filling station for the direct refueling of commercial vehicles and buses as well as a trailer filling station. Special loading ramps allow the trailers to serve as an additional storage element during the loading phases. This reduces the need for stationary storage capacities and thus supports the production and use of green hydrogen. The project contributes to North Rhine-Westphalia's independence from hydrogen imports and to securing and strengthening the value chains in the hydrogen economy. The overall H2Bedburg project comprises a filling plant and a hydrogen production plant (electrolyzer) and has been recognized as an "anchor project for structural change in the Rhenish mining area". The production plant has already received a funding commitment from the state of NRW in the progres.NRW program.

The aim of the project is to build an advanced plant for the production of the environmentally friendly Min-Plus additive at the Düren-Niederau Industrial Park site. The high-performance additive is made from residue sludge from waste paper recycling and is produced without residues or waste water. By using the MinPlus® additive, waste and biomass incineration plants can be optimized in such a way that the consumption of conventional and climate-damaging flue gas cleaning chemicals can be reduced and energy efficiency increased. In addition, the use of the additive enables improved control of deposits and corrosion damage, which increases the service life of the incineration plants.

The planned production volume of 65,000 tons per year is intended to replace at least the same amount of climate-damaging additives. At the same time, regenerative process steam can be provided for the Düren-Niederau industrial park.