cylib - The future of battery recycling
The annual volume of spent batteries in the EU is expected to increase 13-fold to 1.4 million tons by 2040. Even taking into account the most optimistic scenarios in terms of predicted recycling capacities, it is clear that an enormous recycling gap will arise.
cylib GmbH is a start-up for holistic and thus environmentally friendly battery recycling and was founded in Aachen in 2022 by Lilian Schwich (CEO), Paul Sabarny (CTO) and Dr.-Ing. Gideon Schwich (Managing Director).
The end-to-end process of cylib is characterized by the efficient, resource- and climate-friendly recovery of all valuable mineral resources from a lithium-ion battery. Due to the processes developed in many years of research at RWTH Aachen University, the cylib process is accompanied by reduced CO2 emissions. The reuse of emitted CO2 and the absence of chemicals to recover lithium and graphite make cylib's approach the most efficient and sustainable in the world. The recovery of green secondary raw materials from the cylib process enables the realization of the true circular economy in the European market.
CTO Paul Sabarny studied mineral resources engineering at our division and decided to specialize in "process engineering" (today: recycling) during his master's degree of the same name. During his studies, Sabarny worked as a student assistant at the Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT) (formerly: IMR Institute for Mechanical Engineering of the Extractive Industries) and at IME Metallurgical Process Engineering and Metal Recycling.
He wrote his master thesis "Development of an innovative recycling concept for lithium-sulfur cells by designing the optimal parameters" under Lilian Schwich at IME, where he was subsequently hired as a research assistant with the aim of obtaining a doctorate. After 3 years as a research assistant, Paul Sabarny went into business for himself together with Lilian Schwich and her husband Gideon and founded the start-up cylib.
The cylib founders are pleased about the great interest of investors in solving one of the core problems of electromobility. The pilot line is to run until the end of 2023 at the latest and recycle around 70 tons of batteries per year, while the industrial plant that the three founders will subsequently set up will recycle 3500 tons per year. They plan to work as climate-neutrally as possible, use renewable energy and avoid toxic chemicals as far as possible - all in the spirit of the circular economy.
We wish the start-up every success and will follow its further development with interest!
Further information at: https://www.cylib.de/startseite