We are happy to announce that JGC Holding Corporation (Masayuki Sato CEO) and JGC Japan (Yasuharu Yamaguchi CEO) jointly invested in tozero GmbH through Mirai Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) fund. tozero (headquartered in Munich, Germany) is a startup company enabling efficient recycling of critical materials from various types of lithium ion batteries（hereinafter referred to as "LIB"）.

A lithium-ion battery is a rechargeable battery that uses lithium metal oxide as the battery material and charges and discharges lithium ions as they move between the positive and negative electrodes. As a rechargeable battery, it has a wide range of applications due to its extremely high energy density and light weight, and is used in electric vehicles (EVs), stationary batteries, smartphones, computers, drones, and other devices.

Currently, the world surrounding rare metals, which are the raw materials for LIBs, is becoming unstable due to various factors in the global supply chain while supply shortages for LIBs are expected due to the spread of EVs in the future. In addition, the need for LIB recycling is increasing year by year due to battery regulations*1 in Europe and social demands for reducing environmental impact.

Along with this background, tozero has developed a revolutionary process to separate lithium from other materials and efficiently recover lithium from "black mass," which is a powdered form of all types of LIB waste. Furthermore, tozero aims to support the production of new LIBs in Europe by reintroducing recovered and recycled materials into the supply chain, thereby promoting a circular economy.

Through this investment, JGC will cultivate the possibility of LIB recycling in Japan and overseas by utilizing tozero's innovative technology and the engineering expertise that the JGC Group has accumulated in the non-ferrous metal refining field*2. JGC will also contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral and recycling-oriented society by founding this new business in collaboration with stakeholders who are promoting efforts to establish a LIB recycling system.

The JGC Group invests in domestic and foreign startups with innovative technologies and business models that contribute to the creation of safe, secure, and sustainable social systems under the themes of "carbon neutrality," "building sustainable and resilient infrastructure," "improving quality of life in the 100-year age," and "making industry smarter. The JGC Group invests in domestic and foreign startups with innovative technologies and business models that contribute to the realization of a safe, secure, and sustainable social system.

The JGC Group will continue to invest in startups with innovative technologies and business models to realize safe, secure, and sustainable social systems.

※1 METI publication (page 26)
※2 Non-Ferrous Metal Refining | Industrial/Urban Infrastructure | JGC HOLDINGS CORPORATION

Sarah Fleischer（CEO）on the left. Dr. Ksenija Milicevic Neumann（CTO）on the right.

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