Closed L oo p Closed Loop for high-voltage batteries

The transportation industry is changing rapidly: by 2040, 90% of all newly registered trucks and buses worldwide are expected to be battery-electric, according to the study “Battery-electric trucks on the rise” by Strategy&, PwCʼs global strategy consulting arm. But what happens to all these batteries when they reach the end of their service life? The brands of the TRATON GROUP Scania, MAN, International und Volkswagen Truck & Bus are pursuing a circular approach that offers not only ecological but also economic potential.

“We want to position ourselves early on in this field,” says Leo Thieroff, Strategic Project Manager at TRATON SE. “We are striving for a closed loop. Thatʼs why we look at our batteries holistically.”

The life cycle of a high-voltage (HV) battery typically consists of first life, second life, and recycling:

1. First Life: The battery is utilized in a vehicle; during this use phase, it might be repaired and reused in the vehicle. When the batteryʼs state of health no longer meets the requirements for use in trucks or buses and further repair is either no longer feasible or cost-effective, the battery enters its second life.
2. Second Life: If suitable, the battery can begin a second phase of use, for example in a vehicle with lower range requirements like industrial trucks and forklifts. It can also be repurposed — for instance, as a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) that provides renewable-energy storage for fast-charging stations or mobile charging.
3. Recycling: At the end of its second life, the battery enters the recycling process.

“There are several ways to recycle batteries,” Thieroff explains. “The most efficient solution is mechanical recycling combined with hydrometallurgy — chemical separation — to reach a high recycling rate and reclaim the valuable active materials inside the battery cells.”

Here is how it can work: The battery is discharged and dismantled into its modules. Afterwards, these modules are shredded and dried; plastics and certain metals like aluminum and copper can be separated from the valuable materials. The resulting product is referred to as black mass: a metal-graphite mixed powder from which secondary materials such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt can be recovered through chemical separation and extraction in hydrometallurgical processes.

“Recycling can make sense for several reasons,” says Thieroff.

• – Ecological: Recovery rates are high and recycled secondary materials can be used for building cathodes for new batteries — under the current assumption that there are no quality losses compared to new batteries. They also reduce dependency on mining and contribute to the Group’s sustainability strategy, decoupling resource use from business growth, as they will be reused in HV batteries. In addition, they offer a potential opportunity to lower the carbon footprint compared to batteries purely from primary materials, thereby possibly supporting climate protection efforts and leading to lower emissions in our supply chain.
• – Economic: Recycling processes are efficient, and recovered materials could potentially have significant value. Given the density of high-value raw materials in old batteries, recycling could well prove to be more cost-efficient than mining beyond a certain base scale. The economic potential is currently being assessed. Recycling also enhances supply security as keeping materials in circulation reduces geopolitical risks and price fluctuations.
• – Regulatory: The revised EU Battery Regulation, effective August 2025, sets ambitious requirements. A central element: mandatory recycled content quotas. By 2031, all batteries newly placed on the market are required to contain at least 16% recycled cobalt, 6% recycled nickel, and 6% recycled lithium.

The closed loop is still a vision for the future, but the direction is clear. The Group and its brands are already working together to prepare for the time when large numbers of batteries reach the end of their life and need to be recycled or reused. “The TRATON GROUP is conscious of this topic and I think that is extremely important,” says Thieroff. “Setting long-term ambitions and pursuing them consistently — that is what commitment means to me.”