Lilian Schwich has won the Nicolaus August Otto Award

On first July 2025 Deutz presented Lilian Schwich with the Nicolaus August Otto Award. The seventh edition of this renowned prize, awarded by Deutz, particularly recognized Schwich’s work as founder and co-CEO of cylib, a pioneer in battery recycling. Scale-up cylib, which was created in 2022 as a spinoff from RWTH Aachen University, has developed a technology that enables all components of lithium-ion batteries to be recycled efficiently and sustainably. The award ceremony took place during the chiotec conference (formerly the #neuland conference) in Aachen, which was opened by Julia Klöckner, President of the German Bundestag.

Compliments from Deutz’s CEO to Lilian Schwich

“In less than two years, Dr. Lilian Schwich and cylib have managed to secure a leading position in the European battery recycling market and thus lay the foundation for a genuine circular economy,” emphasized Deutz CEO Sebastian C. Schulte in his laudation. “In doing so, Dr. Lilian Schwich is not only a role model for many people in this country. Above all, she demonstrates the strength of Germany as a business location. A brilliant academic from a leading university, groundbreaking technology, and the courage and foresight to bring it all to market readiness within a start-up. These are the ingredients that will keep us successful in the future.” Currently, cylib is building Europe’s largest end-to-end recycling facility for lithium-ion batteries at CHEMPARK Dormagen, with a planned capacity of 30,000 tonnes of end-of-life batteries a year. The facility, which is scheduled to go live in 2027, will serve customers in the automotive, battery, and chemical industries. The innovative, water-based OLiC process, which was successfully piloted in Aachen, provides a recycling efficiency of over 90% and reduces the carbon footprint by up to 80% compared with the extraction of raw materials.

About Nicolaus August Otto Award

Named for the inventor of the four-stroke engine and founder of what later became Deutz, the Nicolaus August Otto award annually sets out to recognize the visionaries of today and is endowed with prize money of €30,000 to promote innovation and pioneering spirit. Previous winners of the Nicolaus August Otto Award include Professor Wolfgang Reitzle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Continental and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Linde, Professor Günther Schuh, Chair of Production Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, Professor Denise Fischer-Kreer of the Institute for Entrepreneurship at the University of Bonn’s Faculty of Agriculture, and other innovators domestically and internationally.