HYUNDAI CORPORATION GROUP acquires a minority stake in technology company FLAXRES GmbH, thereby establishing a strategic partnership for significant non-European markets. The acquisition of the minority stake confirms a valuation of FLAXRES in the triple-digit million range.

FLAXRES is part of econnext Group and specializes in the development of environmentally friendly recycling solutions for photovoltaic modules. The technology developed and patented by FLAXRES is based on short-term high-temperature heating using flash lamps, or “flash lamp annealing”, and is not only substantially more environmentally friendly, but also more cost-efficient and considerably faster than conventional processes which are usually based on mechanical shredding or thermal recycling (pyrolysis) of the panels.

The process developed by FLAXRES offers a solution to one of the most pressing challenges facing the renewable energy sector in the coming years. Many modules that were installed during the first wave of solar energy expansion have now reached the end of their life cycle, with no environmentally friendly and efficient processes for a true circular economy solution available. With the method developed by FLAXRES all composite materials are cleanly separated and the extracted resources are of such a high quality that they can be profitably returned to the material cycle.

The two founders of FLAXRES and its parent company FLAXTEC, Michael Rudolf Heuschkel and Dr Harald Gross, have been working on the technology since mid-2016. Following the successful application of the process in the test phase, FLAXRES is now working with renowned companies in the recycling industry.

Together with the HYUNDAI CORPORATION GROUP, FLAXRES will expand internationally and apply the FLAXRES technology in selected markets to feed end-of-life PV modules into the global circular economy.

“We are delighted that we have been able to find a major strategic investor and partner for our technological solution, with whom we will jointly develop global markets.”, say Michael Rudolf Heuschkel and Dr Harald Gross.

econnext AG, as the majority shareholder of FLAXTEC GmbH (the parent company of FLAXRES GmbH) also very much welcomes the new strategic partner and looks forward to the future together.

Michael Schneider, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of econnext: “The technology that the founders of FLAXTEC and FLAXRES have developed is groundbreaking and finally offers a way to recycle PV modules in an environmentally friendly and efficient way – together with our Korean partner, we can develop international markets considerably faster and better, thereby contributing to addressing one of the major criticisms of renewable energies.”

econnext

econnext AG is a cleantech holding company founded in 2016 and is exclusively dedicated to supporting subsidiaries that have a long-term, profitable and scalable positive impact on the economy, environment and society in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In addition to FLAXTEC, the econnext subsidiaries include Circular Carbon GmbH in Hamburg (biochar for soil improvement and as a carbon sink), ESG Screen17 GmbH in Frankfurt (sustainability screening of investment portfolios), Autarq GmbH in Prenzlau (solar roof tiles), GRIPS Energy GmbH in Berlin (renewable/ solar energy supply) and LUMENION GmbH in Berlin (large-scale energy storage/heat storage), as well as a minority stake in ambibox GmbH in Mainz (decentralized energy systems and charging technology).

www.econnext.eu

The new FLAXTHOR 2.0 system design is finished, and since March 31, 2023, we are ready for construction. In excellent cooperation with KRÖNING Automation, the development was accomplished in no time at all. Herewith we start into a new era. With this milestone, we are changing from a start-up to a globally active operator consortium and are thus revolutionizing the recycling of photovoltaic modules.

Pictured here are our three equipment containers, which are connected to each other. Starting from the left, each panel first goes through the preparatory steps such as the removal of dirt, the junction box and the frame. Then exposure takes place with a high-intensity light pulse in the middle container. Lastly, the material composite is separated from one another in the last container and the single-variety recyclables obtained are collected in appropriate containers. The trio is accompanied by a supply container (seen in the back left). On an area of approx. 30m x 15m we achieve a cycle time of a sensational 30 seconds with this system. When operating in a 3-shift system, we can therefore process up to 15,000 tons of end-of-life photovoltaic modules per year.

For 2023 we are already planning the construction of 5 mobile plants with this blueprint, which will then be used worldwide. To this end, we cooperate with strong international partners. But this is just the beginning, many more are to follow in the coming years, so that from 2030 we will already be able to operate with a system contingent in the two-digit range.

• Pilot production equipment reaches market maturity regarding industrial processes
• Worldwide expansion of cooperating with recycling and energy companies

Dresden, 12 July 2022 – FLAXRES GmbH has transferred its proprietary technology for recycling photovoltaic modules into an industrial process and thus reached another milestone towards market maturity. The basis for this breakthrough is a successfully completed mass test with 7.5 tonnes of photovoltaic modules in the pilot production equipment “FLAXTHOR™”. In the process, more than 200kg of silicon and 4kg of silver, as well as 4.9 tonnes of glass of the highest quality were recovered. A potential recycling capacity of over 1,000 tonnes per year has been achieved at the new FLAXRES site in Dresden. Based on this prototype, several equipment per year are now to be projected and will be made available to international customers in the recycling and energy sector.

The number of defective photovoltaic modules or decommissioned modules due to “repowering” has meanwhile risen sharply. In Germany alone, the forecast estimates a volume of around 400,000 tonnes by 2030, which corresponds to approximately 20 million modules.

The high quality of the materials after the separation process enables a genuine and especially an economically lucrative recycling, in contrast to the currently prevailing “downcycling” by shredding the photovoltaic modules.

The envisaged recycling equipment should achieve a throughput of one photovoltaic module every ten seconds in the mid-term. No chemicals are utilized in the process. Into oversea containers integrated equipment facilitates worldwide deployment and reduces transportation cost by on-site recycling. Both silicon and thin-film modules can be processed as well as modules with broken glass. Less than one kilowatt-hour is required for fragmentation of one module into its main components.

About FLAXRES:

FLAXRES is a technology provider for mono-fractioned separation of composite materials, specialised in photovoltaic module recycling. Among other things, a proprietary light pulse technology, developed in-house is used for this purpose.