Battery Recycling Without Disassembly: GSA Opens Laboratory in Biel

Green Science Alliance Battery Recycling Without Disassembly

2026-10-20 From Stefanie Eckardt 1 min Reading Time

The Japanese company Green Science Alliance has opened a laboratory in Biel (Switzerland). It plans to directly recover cathode material from used batteries instead of dissolving the metals.

Green Science Alliance, a Japanese chemical and GreenTech company, is now working in Switzerland on innovative battery recycling processes.(Image: Green Science Alliance) — Green Science Alliance, a Japanese chemical and GreenTech company, is now working in Switzerland on innovative battery recycling processes.
(Image: Green Science Alliance)

The Japanese company Green Science Alliance (GSA) has opened a laboratory in Biel, Switzerland. There, it is working on a recycling process that directly recovers cathode active material from the black mass of used lithium-ion batteries. The materials are then intended for use in new cells. In conventional recycling, by contrast, acids or bases dissolve the black mass. The metals are recovered and processed into new battery materials in several steps. The GSA process could shorten this process and conserve resources, according to the press release.

According to GSA, initial tests have yielded promising results. Cells with regenerated cathode materials achieved more than 90 percent of the initial capacity of comparable cells made with commercially available materials. The process is being developed for nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells and for lithium iron phosphate cells (LFP). The announcement does not provide any details regarding test conditions, cycle count, or costs.

Swiss Research Partner Provides Infrastructure

In the laboratory, GSA is collaborating with the Swiss Battery Technology Center (SBTC), one of the four applied research centers at the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne (SIPBB). GSA is contributing its recycling process, while the SBTC is providing scientific expertise and infrastructure. Together, the partners aim to investigate the regenerated materials, manufacture electrodes and cells, and test their performance. The goal is to evaluate the potential for industrial application and scalability.

An innovation grant from the Swiss funding agency Innosuisse is financing the initial joint research efforts. It is intended to lay the groundwork for potential future collaboration.

Biel as a Bridgehead to Europe

According to GSA, the company has chosen Biel as the location for its European expansion. The company is relying on the Innovation Park’s network of industry partners, startups, and research institutions. This is intended to help bring the process from the laboratory to industrial application.

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