Porsche has reached a new milestone in its push toward a closed-loop circular economy for high-voltage batteries, producing battery cathode active material for the first time entirely from recycled raw materials.
Working with German recycling company cylib, Porsche built battery cells using recycled cathode active material sourced exclusively from its own end-of-life high-voltage batteries, with the resulting cells now undergoing extensive operational testing.
Joachim Scharnagl, Porsche’s Executive Board Member for Procurement, called cells made entirely from recycled lithium and cobalt an important technological milestone, framing the work as a step toward both circular economy principles and a more resilient raw material supply.
From Recovery to Full Replacement
The milestone builds on a pilot project Porsche launched last year, through which the company and its partners recover raw materials from end-of-life batteries, process them into new materials, and use them in new battery cells for Porsche test vehicles.
The project has now moved into a new phase where recycled active materials — including lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese — fully replace conventional raw materials for the first time, rather than simply supplementing them.
Dr. Lilian Schwich, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of cylib, said the partnership demonstrates in practice that raw materials from Porsche batteries reaching the end of their first life can potentially flow back into new high-performance batteries for future Porsche vehicles.
Quality as the Next Hurdle
Beyond simply recovering raw materials, Porsche is focused on ensuring the recycled materials meet its existing standards for value, quality and performance in production batteries.
Initial testing already points to technical feasibility, with further results expected in the second half of 2026; insights from the pilot will inform whether these materials can eventually be used in series-production battery cells.
Already Feeding Into Regular Operations
Findings from the pilot are already shaping Porsche’s standard battery disposal process. Through the partnership with cylib, Porsche recycles end-of-life high-voltage batteries collected from its Centers across Germany, using an innovative water-based recycling process since May 2026.
Recovered materials are tracked through a dedicated material account and are expected to become available to Porsche and selected partner companies for battery cell production starting in 2028, an approach aimed at reducing dependence on global raw material sources and, eventually, supplying European-recycled materials for Porsche’s own high-voltage batteries.
Part of a Broader Circular Strategy
Porsche frames the battery recycling work as one piece of a wider sustainability push focused on using raw materials responsibly and extending the usable life of vehicles and their components.
That strategy also includes broader use of circular materials, waste reduction efforts, and the remanufacturing of vehicle parts across the company’s value chain.