US-based Ascend Elements is partnering with South Korea-based SK ecoplant and its e-waste recycling subsidiary, TES, to build a $65-million lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Hopkinsville, Ky. The 100,000-square-foot EV battery recycling facility will disassemble and shred approximately 24,000 metric tons of used EV batteries and gigafactory scrap per year—or... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award a combined total of $2 million to eight projects to drive innovation in lithium-ion battery (LIB) rejuvenation, recycling, and reuse administered through the ReCell Center. The ReCell Centerwas established by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office and is located at Argonne National Laboratory. These... Read more →

Li-ion battery recycling company Blue Whale Materials (BWM) will site its inaugural li-ion battery processing facility in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Blue Whale’s commercial facility will be situated within a 35-acre campus including 150,000 square feet of warehouse space at the Bartlesville Industrial Park and encompasses multiple lots designed to facilitate battery... Read more →

Last year, Redwood Materials, the battery materials recycling, refining and remanufacturing company founded by former Tesla exec JB Straubel, announced expansion plans in Europe to support creating a closed-loop battery supply chain. Europe continues to be the fastest growing EV market globally, driven by automakers’ commitments and strong government support... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) has selected eight projects, which have been awarded a combined total of $2 million, to drive innovation in lithium-ion battery (LIB) rejuvenation, recycling, and reuse administered through the ReCell Center located at Argonne National Laboratory. Through this investment,... Read more →

Dragonfly Energy, in collaboration with Aqua Metals, has successfully used high-purity lithium hydroxide recovered by Aqua Metals from recycled lithium-ion batteries to manufacture a lithium-based battery cell using Dragonfly Energy’s patented dry battery electrode coating technology. The successful recovery of battery-grade lithium hydroxide and cycle testing of a sustainably manufactured... Read more →

Li-Cycle Holdings and Glencore International, a leading producer, recycler, and marketer of nickel and cobalt which is required for the production of lithium-ion batteries, are now planning a two-phase approach to the Portovesme Hub project in Sardinia, Italy (earlier post) to expedite the production of battery-grade lithium carbonate. Phase 1... Read more →

Ionic Technologies, Less Common Metals (LCM) and Ford will establish a demonstration circular supply chain for Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in the UK, by utilizing innovative technologies to create high-specification magnets containing 100% recycled REEs for use in Electrical Vehicles (EVs). Ionic Technologies has demonstrated patented technology at the demonstration... Read more →

Continental recently added recovered carbon black (rCB) to its newly produced Super Elastic solid tires at its tire plant in Korbach, Germany, thus reducing the use of fossil raw materials and CO2 emissions. Solid tires such as Continental’s SC20+ already contain around 60% renewable and recycled materials due to their... Read more →

BASF and Nanotech Energy, a developer and manufacturer of graphene-based energy storage products, have agreed to partner to reduce the CO2 footprint of Nanotech’s lithium-ion batteries for the North American market. The agreement aims to close the loop for lithium-ion batteries in North America, with BASF producing cathode active materials... Read more →

Researchers from UNSW Sydney (Australia) report in an open-access paper in the Journal of Power Sources on the use of hard carbons derived from automotive shredder residue (ASR) as a suitable anode electroactive material for sodium-ion batteries (NIBs). Limitation of graphite as anode material in NIB has paved the way... Read more →

Recycling lithium-ion batteries is difficult. The recovery of lithium of a quality high enough to be used again is complicated and expensive. Most recycling processes are targeted at extracting the lithium from cathodes (where most of the lithium in discharged batteries is located). However, it then precipitates out together with... Read more →

Redwood Materials, the battery materials recycling, refining and remanufacturing company founded by former Tesla exec JB Straubel, has raised more than $1 billion in Series D shares. The round which was co-led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of intent to release a funding opportunity that would provide up to $37 million from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding to advance electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling, transportation, and design (DE-FOA-0003120). As of July 2023, more than 3.9 million plug-in electric... Read more →

Shortly before the updated EU Battery Regulation comes into force, the chair “Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components” (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University has published a study on the European battery recycling market. Due to high investment costs, the current structure of the value chain will move toward large recycling centers,... Read more →

The REMADE Institute, a 170-member public-private partnership established and funded in part by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) (earlier post), announced a new technology license involving technology developed with REMADE support. The license involves a technology innovation capable of removing metallic impurities—e.g., iron, copper, silicon, manganese, and zinc—from... Read more →

Prices for black mass material—from process scrap fell by 5% in July from a month earlier, according to Benchmark’s inaugural black mass price assessment, due to a decline in the underlying prices for lithium. Black mass production is the first step in the battery recycling process and is based on... Read more →

In November 2022, LanzaTech and Sumitomo Riko Company entered into a joint-development agreement to reuse rubber, resin and urethane waste for the production of a key chemical intermediate, isoprene. (Earlier post.) Sumitomo Rubber along with Sumitomo Electric will be taking part in this joint development. The three companies will join... Read more →

A research team in China has developed an innovative self-powered system comprising an electrochemical Li-ion battery (LIB) recycling reactor and a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for recycling spent LFP batteries. A paper on their work appears in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental Science. In the electrochemical LIB recycling reactor, the... Read more →

RecycLiCo Battery Materials and Nanoramic Laboratories announced a strategic collaboration with the goal of optimizing the complete life cycle of lithium-ion batteries. Nanoramic will contribute its discarded Neocarbonix lithium-ion battery cathode electrodes, notable for their high-performance, low-cost nanocarbon mesh binding structure, for testing with RecycLiCo’s proprietary lithium-ion battery recycling process,... Read more →

Li-Cycle Holdings announced the start of commercial operations at its first Spoke recycling facility in Europe, located in Magdeburg, Germany. The Germany Spoke’s first main processing line has now commenced operations, with the second main line expected to start later in 2023. Each main line has the capacity to process... Read more →

SABIC recently announced its new PCR-based NORYL resin technology, formulated using 25% or more post-consumer recycled (PCR) content and aimed at providing additional, sustainable material options for customers. The technology was validated through the commercialization of several grades, including NORYL NH5120RC3 resin containing 30% PCR content, which helps to lower... Read more →

Li-ion battery recycling technology company Aqua Metals (earlier post) entered into a strategic partnership with Yulho Co., Ltd., a storage solution and battery materials company based in South Korea. Initiating the partnership, Yulho will make a strategic equity investment of $5 million in Aqua Metals, underscoring Yulho’s confidence in Aqua... Read more →

Rio Tinto and Giampaolo Group, one of North America’s largest fully-integrated metal management businesses, have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture to manufacture and market recycled aluminum products. The transaction reflects the joint venture partners’ shared commitment to meeting the increasing demand for low-carbon aluminum as a... Read more →

In partnership with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), researchers from the University of Missouri (MU) Mizzou Asphalt Pavement and Innovation Lab (MAPIL) recently created a real-world test road using recycled materials such as scrap tires and plastic waste along a portion of Interstate 155 in the Missouri Bootheel. By... Read more →

KULR Technology Group and Cirba Solutions, a battery materials and management processor for end-of-life EV batteries and gigafactory manufacturing scrap, are collaborating to develop a safe transportation platform for original equipment manufacturers to store and transport prototype, end of life, damaged, defective, and recalled lithium-ion batteries up to 2.5 kWh... Read more →

Fortum Battery Recycling has started to examine the feasibility of installing a production facility for sustainable secondary battery materials in the industrial area of Artern, Thuringia, Germany. The black mass facility will be Fortum Battery Recycling’s second hub in Central Europe. In March, Fortum Battery Recycling started its first commercial... Read more →

The Audi Environmental Foundation is working with the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology to research new ways of recovering raw materials through recycling. Elements such as indium, gallium, or even tin are both finite and essential for modern technologies such as fiber optics, photovoltaics, and semiconductors. Every electronic device... Read more →

Researchers from Technische Universität Darmstadt, Universität Stuttgart, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, and Universität des Saarlandes have developed a two-step recycling approach for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries (lithium ASSBs). The process, which uses citric acid as the leaching agent to separate and recover the individual components, is presented in an open-access paper in the... Read more →

Altilium Metals, a UK-based green technology group, signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Marubeni Corporation, Japanese trading and investment group. Under the framework of the MOU, the two companies will work together to explore opportunities to jointly develop EV battery recycling businesses in the UK. (Earlier post.) This will... Read more →

The new “Pendik” bicycle bag from the pinqponq brand by baesiq GmbH (Cologne, Germany) has a significantly reduced CO2 footprint due to BASF’s Ultramid Ccycled, a mass-balanced polyamide that supports the use of alternative raw materials from chemical recycling of plastic waste. BASF feeds pyrolysis oil from end-of-life (EOL) tires... Read more →

BASF has opened Europe’s first co-located center of battery material production and battery recycling in Schwarzheide, Germany. The inauguration of a production facility for high-performance cathode active materials (CAM) and the unveiling ceremony for a battery recycling plant for the production of black mass represent steps toward closing the loop... Read more →

Aqua Metals, a developer of sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling, announced the successful completion of its Li AquaRefining recycling pilot; transition to 24/5 operations; and production of high-purity, saleable quantities of sustainably recycled battery materials. The company completed the pilot facility commissioning with the recovery of both cobalt and manganese dioxide,... Read more →

RecycLiCo Battery Materials, a battery materials company specializing in the development of novel and environmentally friendly lithium-ion battery recycling and upcycling technologies, recently entered a 50-50 joint venture with Taiwan-based Zenith Chemical Corporation to build a 2,000 metric ton per year lithium-ion battery recycling plant in Taiwan. The initial plant,... Read more →

Constellium SE and TARMAC Aerosave, a company dedicated to storage, maintenance and recycling of aicraft and engines (CFM56 & Leap), will explore the development of technologies and processes to recover aluminum from end-of-life aircraft, and reutilize it within the aerospace value chain, while maintaining material properties and performance. The footprint... Read more →

Nordic energy company Fortum and battery chemicals producer Terrafame have signed an agreement for an experimental project in which metals recovered from the black mass of EV batteries by Fortum will be utilized in Terrafame’s battery chemical production. Under the agreement, Fortum will supply nickel and cobalt recovered from the... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued proposed rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 18 chemicals made from plastic waste-derived feedstocks that would ensure they are free from unsafe contaminants before they can be used to make transportation fuels. The proposed Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) would... Read more →

Neste has made the final investment decision to commence construction of upgrading facilities for liquefied plastic waste at its Porvoo refinery in Finland. With the investment of €111 million, Neste will build the capacity to upgrade 150,000 tons of liquefied waste plastic per year. Upgrading is one of the three... Read more →

The European Union has awarded €4.9 million for the Recirculate project, which will address the most pressing challenges in the European battery recycling sector and battery materials logistics. The main goal of the project is to enhance end-of-life battery repair, reuse, remanufacture and recycling. Eleven partners from different countries will... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced more than $192 million in new funding for recycling batteries from consumer products; launching an advanced battery research and development (R&D) consortium; and the continuation of the Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize, which began in 2019. With the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) announced $2 million for the rejuvenation, recycling, and reuse of Lithium-ion battery programs, administered through the ReCell Center located at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Through this investment, AMMTO will encourage the formation of Cooperative Research and Development... Read more →

In 2022, Audi described a pilot program with partner companies Reiling Glas Recycling, Saint-Gobain Glass, and Saint-Gobain Sekurit to turn damaged auto glass into recyclable material for model production. (Earlier post.) Audi is now shifting the “GlassLoop” pilot project into standard production; for the windshields in the Audi Q4 e-tron,... Read more →

Cirba Solutions, a battery materials and management processor for end-of-life batteries and gigafactory manufacturing scrap, has agreed to partner with Volta Energy Technologies, a venture capital firm backed by some of the biggest names in energy and energy storage materials. Cirba Solutions and Volta will be collaborating in numerous strategic... Read more →

Dumping large quantities of end-of-life tires (ELTs) in landfills creates a focus of colonies of insects and rodents, as well as a hazard of fire that generates billowing smoke and causes situations of environmental and health alarms in neighboring towns. More than 176,000 tonnes of ELTs are collected in Spain... Read more →

Cirba Solutions, a comprehensive battery materials and management company for end-of-life batteries and gigafactory scrap, selected global professional services company Jacobs to expand manufacturing capacity for sustainable electric vehicle (EV) battery materials across North America. Jacobs is managing the facility design and supporting construction of multiple site locations, including an... Read more →

Glencore International AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore plc, a leading producer, recycler, and marketer of nickel and cobalt for the production of electric vehicle batteries, and Li-Cycle Holdings Corp., an industry leader in lithium-ion battery resource recovery and the leading lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, signed a... Read more →

Lithium-ion battery recycling company Aqua Metals (earlier post), and 6K Energy, a developer of microwave plasma technology for the production of advanced materials for energy storage and additive manufacturing powders (earlier post), announced a partnership to develop the next generation of low-carbon battery materials as well as plans to establish... Read more →

Porsche AG and Norsk Hydro ASA will work together to further reduce the carbon footprint of Porsche’s car models by using low-carbon aluminum and extrusions from Hydro. In addition, the two companies will collaborate on an innovative value chain concept for battery materials and its recycling. Hydro will deliver to... Read more →

Constellium SE will work with Renault Group to establish a closed-loop aluminum recycling process for the all-new Megane E-TECH Electric. Renault Group has developed a recycling process to bring manufacturing scrap from the stamping process directly back to Constellium, resulting in a reduced CO2 footprint. Based on best practices to... Read more →

BMW i Ventures announced an investment in Canada-based Cyclic Materials, a circular supply chain company focused on recycling rare earth elements (REE) (earlier post). The $27-million Series A funding was led by BMW i Ventures (BiV) and Energy Impact Partners (EIP), and included participation from Fifth Wall, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada... Read more →