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BMW Group Australia has switched on a national programme to recover and reuse materials from end-of-life high-voltage batteries, partnering with local specialist EcoBatt. It’s a clear move toward a circular supply chain: lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite are pulled from spent packs, refined, and fed back into manufacturing rather than ending up as waste.
The process starts at EcoBatt’s Battery Discharge Plant in Campbellfield, Victoria, where incoming packs are safely de-energised before heading to the new Battery-in-Devices Shredding facility. That plant can handle up to 5,000 tonnes of batteries per year and is engineered to recover more than 90 per cent of valuable material. The output—known as black mass—goes to downstream refiners who separate the critical minerals for second-life use. Even the energy captured during discharge is repurposed to help power the site, trimming the operation’s footprint.
Dealer networks across Australia will funnel damaged or end-of-life packs into the system, and EcoBatt has built purpose-designed 20-foot transport containers to move compromised vehicles safely. Each unit is fitted with advanced fire-suppression hardware to mitigate thermal runaway during transit, allowing cars to be winched in and sealed for controlled transport to repair centres or recycling hubs.
Campbellfield is just the starting grid. EcoBatt plans additional facilities in Western Australia and New Zealand, while a new URT lithium battery recycling plant slated for 2026 is set to lift capacity to around 30,000 tonnes annually. The programme mirrors BMW’s global blueprint, which includes long-running collaborations with tech lifecycle partners and the company’s own Recycling and Dismantling Centre in Germany to reintegrate recovered minerals into fresh battery production.
With EV adoption accelerating, Australia faces a sharp rise in end-of-life battery volumes over the next two decades. By building a robust recovery pipeline now—safe logistics, efficient material extraction and genuine reintegration into supply chains—BMW Group Australia and EcoBatt are laying down proper infrastructure to keep valuable minerals in circulation and the nation’s EV ecosystem on a more sustainable track.
