Schaeffler heads €25m e-axle recycling research

Schaeffler is coordinating the ReDriveS research project, a German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy-funded initiative bringing together 25 partners from industry and academia to develop automated, scalable recycling processes for electric axle drive systems. The project, with a total volume exceeding €25m and funding of more than €16m, will run for 36 months and aims to create non-destructive disassembly methods and digital tools to recover high-value materials including rare earths, copper and aluminium.

The initiative will develop robot-guided disassembly systems, recycling processes for rare earth magnets and a digital ecosystem using digital twins for cross-manufacturer data use. Schaeffler said the project will help meet future mandatory recycling targets and reduce the carbon footprint of electric vehicles (EVs).

In a statement, Tim Hosenfeldt, Head of Central Technologies at Schaeffler, said: “With ReDriveS, we are launching a key project for the circular economy in electric mobility as consortium leader, together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and strong partners. Our goal is to make electric axle drives significantly more resource-efficient through digital twins, automated disassembly, and high-quality recycling—thereby securing raw materials and supply chains, reducing CO₂ emissions, and strengthening Germany as a location overall.”

Source: Schaeffler