Cirba Solutions, a recycled battery management and materials company, will form a joint venture with 6K Inc., a producer of sustainable advanced materials for additive manufacturing and energy storage via the UniMelt plasma system, to produce recycled battery cathode material, thereby closing the loop in the management of lithium-ion batteries.

This partnership provides the battery manufacturing sector with a secure and steady source of recycled cathode material that will help the United States achieve a sustainable domestic supply chain.

6K’s UniMelt system harnesses a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-derived microwave plasma process, that can produce a number of battery materials, faster, cleaner and at a lower cost than any other process. Compared to state-of-the-art cathode active material (CAM) plants, 6K produces significantly lower greenhouse gases (GhG), no solid or liquid waste, and utilizes 90% less water for a 50% cost reduction compared to the global average cost.

Cirba Solutions has decades of experience in developing comprehensive and geographically diverse logistical and processing footprint for the collection, packaging, transportation, and material upgrading of end-of-life batteries and production scrap.

6K’s UniMelt system replaces a less efficient chemical co-precipitation process with one that takes seconds and is powered by 6,000 degrees Kelvin microwave plasma. Our partnership with Cirba Solutions allows us to leverage both companies’ revolutionary capabilities to create a domestic supply chain that operates to insulate the United States from foreign shocks and supply chain disruptions while supplying next-generation battery materials.

—6K’s CEO, Aaron Bent

The two organizations successfully demonstrated the CAM-to-CAM (cathode active materials) process with recycled material to produce NMC powder that meets industry specifications. This closed-loped approach provides OEMs, cell manufacturers, and cathode producers with a sustainable product that create a circular domestic supply chain with a high-quality cathode made from recycled batteries.