After three years of intensive work, we are celebrating the completion of IDcycLIB - a pioneering project for sustainable battery recycling. Together with our partners, we have developed innovative technologies, such as the Z 61 GP rapid centrifuge and the harvesting and cleaning station, which make recycling processes safer, more efficient and more resource-friendly.

A huge thank you to our great team and all project partners who made this successful chapter possible! Together, we have made an important contribution to the sustainable battery production of the future.

This is just the beginning - we look forward to what's to come!

As part of the IDcycLIB project - funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) - we are working with ten partners from industry and science to create a sustainable and forward-looking solution for recycling lithium-ion batteries. Our aim is to develop a flexible, automated solution for classifying various battery residues with industrial throughput. To achieve this, we rely on our specially adapted tubular centrifuges, which, in combination with a robotic arm, enable precise and efficient sorting.


Our approach has numerous advantages: the technologies used allow for the environmentally friendly separation of materials, such as production residues and cell returns, using a water-based separation technique that effectively isolates even the smallest particles. With this innovative process, we are making an important contribution to reducing our dependence on raw material imports and to optimizing economic efficiency and sustainability in battery cell production.
 

We are particularly proud of the automated robot solution, which significantly reduces manual effort. This allows us to protect our employees by reducing their contact with potentially hazardous materials such as electrolytes or cobalt, while at the same time improving the process stability and durability of our systems. We are also developing a special cleaning unit that enables the centrifuges to be cleaned quickly and easily, thereby extending maintenance intervals.
We were recently on site and implemented important steps: The assembly of the centrifuges, the programming of the robot tasks and the first functional tests. This will be followed in November by the optimization of the interfaces and commissioning with real production materials. Our final goal, the presentation of the entire process to our project partner ISC in December, is getting closer and closer.


We see this project as a great opportunity: it not only enables us to strengthen our market position, but also to further expand our comprehensive expertise in the field of rapid centrifuges. Together, we are shaping the battery technologies of the future - for a more sustainable, resource-conserving world.

Only a few companies manage to write more than 100 years of contemporary history and thus become part of a museum exhibition. Many of them no longer exist today, be it due to economic crises or dying out products. None of this applies to CEPA. For more than 100 years we have specialized in the development and manufacture of centrifuge solutions and systems worldwide and it is impossible to imagine the market without them.

We had already heralded our 100th anniversary together with the workforce, customers, suppliers, partners and the surrounding neighborhood last May. A chronicle created especially for the occasion impressively shows how it all began and takes the reader on a journey through the decades of history.

"We are really honored to be part of the Tonofenfabrik City Museum in Lahr with a permanent exhibition," says Michaela Vinnay, Managing Director of CEPA. "For me, in the fourth generation of a family business, this is something very special, associated with many emotions and I am very proud of what my family has achieved together with our employees over the years," she describes.

The permanent exhibition was opened last Friday with the premiere of the new image film together with the workforce. Afterwards, the employees were invited to a festive evening in the Palais Wunderlich in Lahr and enjoyed both entertainment and the culinary highlights.

Michaela Vinnay proved that changes are part of day-to-day business when she announced her resignation as managing director during the celebrations and, after more than 22 years in the service of the company, handed over the sole management to Uwe Kirchgässner. Uwe Kirchgässner was appointed second managing director of CEPA in 2020 and, with over 25 years of professional experience in marketing and sales, brings a great deal of expertise to the company.

“Looking to the future, there are a number of things that concern CEPA intensively. The framework conditions have changed in recent years - according to Uwe Kirchgässner, CEPA is already well positioned for these new conditions. CEPA will focus on new, sustainable and resource-saving solutions for the environment. The entire CEPA team is aware of its responsibility for future generations,” he adds.

The exhibition can be seen all year round in the Stadtmuseum Tonofenfabrik in Lahr during opening hours from Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., on the upper floor "Lahr and Industry".