Pure Lithium Corporation, a vertically integrated lithium metal battery technology company, has received funding from the Vehicle Technology Office to scale production of lithium metal anodes from recycled lithium metal, in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory. Lithium metal waste is produced by certain industrial processes in the United States. Recovering... Read more →
Researchers at the University of Leicester have developed an innovative way of recovering valuable battery-grade metal oxides from crushed batteries by using nanoemulsions created from a trace of cooking oil in water. An open-access paper on their work is published in the journal RSC Sustainability. Research has shown that using... Read more →
Talga Group Ltd has signed a non-binding MOU with Altilium to secure a sustainable supply of graphite for use in EV battery anode products. Under the MoU framework, Altilium proposes to supply Talga with up to 16,000 tonnes of recycled graphite over three years commencing 2026. Talga is building Europe’s... Read more →
A new study carried out by Imperial College London has found that Altilium’s recycled EV battery materials can match, and even surpass, the performance of virgin mined materials. Imperial’s analysis of Altilium’s recycled cathode active materials (CAM) confirmed distinct improvements in purity, morphology and electrochemical performance, compared to commercially available... Read more →
BMW i Ventures has invested in GreenSpark Software, a New York City-based company building modern operating software for the metal recycling industry. Existing investors Zero Infinity Partners and Third Prime also participated in the investment round. This investment positions GreenSpark to fast-track its product roadmap, expand into larger enterprise segments,... Read more →
Orion S.A., a global specialty chemicals company, signed a long-term supply agreement with Contec S.A., which will provide Orion tire pyrolysis oil to produce circular carbon black for tire and rubber goods customers. The agreement with Warsaw, Poland-based Contec further enables Orion to diversify its sources of tire pyrolysis oil,... Read more →
Li-Cycle Holdings, a global lithium-ion battery resource recovery company, has partnered with an additional premium automotive original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) to recycle lithium-ion battery materials at its Germany Spoke as it continues to broaden its commercial footprint in the EU. This exclusive agreement channels feedstock from a facility producing electric... Read more →
Cyclic Materials, a recycling company building a circular supply chain for Rare Earth Elements and other critical materials (earlier post), announced a $2-million investment from InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). This latest backing lifts the company’s Series B round to $55 million. Rare Earths Elements... Read more →
International Airlines Group (IAG) has invested in Wastefront, a leading tire-to-fuel company, which plans to turn used tires into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The SAF will be made by converting waste tires into tire-derived oil (TDO), which is then refined into road fuels and SAF. The SAF produced is expected... Read more →
Ace Green Recycling, a provider of sustainable battery recycling technology, and Spiro, Africa’s largest electric vehicle (EV) company signed a strategic agreement to support the circular battery value chain in Africa. The partnership will see Ace recycle end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, including LFP batteries, as well as waste from Spiro’s battery... Read more →
Altilium, a UK-based clean technology group focused on supporting the transition to net zero, announced a new partnership with major chemicals company, HELM AG, through its UK subsidiary LevertonHELM Ltd, that will see the two companies working together to develop a sustainable domestic supply chain for lithium in the UK.... Read more →
After successfully launching a closed-loop recycling system for the reuse of raw materials from high-voltage batteries due to the BMW Brilliance Automotive Joint Venture (BBA) in China in 2022, the BMW Group on 1 November 2024 launched a pan-European partnership with SK tes, a leading provider of innovative technology lifecycle... Read more →
Ace Green Recycling finalized a lease agreement for a site to build India’s largest battery recycling facility. To be located in Mundra, Gujarat, the facility will build on Ace’s existing Indian commercial operations, which have been recycling lithium-ion batteries since 2023 including lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistries. As a part... Read more →
Blue Whale Materials (BWM) has received a contracted grant award of more than $55 million from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing Program. Approximately $3 million of the grant will go... Read more →
BMW i Ventures invested in Phoenix Tailings, a metals production company dedicated to creating a zero-waste, zero-emission future. The Series B financing, which was led by Envisioning Partners and included additional participation from Yamaha Motor Ventures and Escape Velocity, will enable Phoenix Tailings to scale its rare earth processing operations... Read more →
American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ: ABAT), an integrated critical battery materials company that is commercializing its technologies for both primary battery minerals manufacturing and secondary minerals lithium-ion battery recycling, has received a contracted grant award for $144 million of federal investment by the US Department of Energy (DOE). These funds... Read more →
Toyota Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA), inclusive of Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) R&D, has been selected to receive $4.5 million in funding from the US Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding is part of the Catalyzing Innovative Research for Circular Use of Long-lived... Read more →
Recycling could enable Europe to cut its reliance on EV battery mineral imports by up to a quarter by the end of the decade, a new study finds. Materials from end-of-life batteries and gigafactory scrap have the potential to build up to 2.4 million EVs locally in 2030, according to... Read more →
Aluminum metal scrap can be directly transformed and upgraded into high-performance, high-value alloys without the need for conventional melting processes, according to a new study from researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The research study, published in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrates that scrap aluminum from... Read more →
Cyclic Materials, an advanced metals recycling company building a circular supply chain for rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical metals, signed a multi-year offtake agreement with Glencore, a global natural resources company, for the supply of copper produced at its Spoke operations. The strategic partnership aims to advance sustainable... Read more →
Trek Bicycle and Liberty Tire Recycling launched a bicycle tire recycling program across all Trek-owned stores in North America. This initiative aims to provide cyclists with a free and responsible way to recycle their used bicycle tires. Cyclists can bring their worn-out bicycle tires to a participating Trek store, where... Read more →
Toshiba Corporation has developed a method for recycling lithium-ion battery oxide anodes at low cost and with low environmental impact. The EU Battery Regulation, which went into effect in August 2023, mandates the declaration of carbon footprints (CFP) and high levels of environmental consideration throughout the product life cycle, necessitating... Read more →
Altilium has begun processing of lithium-ion battery waste at its new ACT 2 recycling facility in Plymouth, UK. The facility, the first of its kind in the UK, marks the next phase of Altilium’s scale-up strategy, leading to megascale recycling at its planned ACT 4 plant in Teesside. Showcasing the... Read more →
BMW Group is building a Cell Recycling Competence Center (CRCC) for battery cells in Kirchroth, in the Straubing-Bogen district of Lower Bavaria, where it will implement a process referred to as direct recycling. This procedure enables residual materials from battery cell production, as well as whole battery cells, to be... Read more →
Researchers in China have developed a simple, highly efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly processfor the sustainable recycling of depleted lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). No chemicals beyond citric acid need to be added to leach out and separate more than 99% of the lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese metals contained in NCM... Read more →
Constellium announced a major advancement in aluminum recycling for the automotive industry, by implementing Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technology at an industrial scale. LIBS is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which uses a highly energetic laser pulse as the excitation source. This initiative, developed in collaboration with OSR GmbH... Read more →
Li-Cycle entered into an agreement for a loan facility of up to $475 million (including up to $445 million of principal and up to $30 million in capitalized interest) through the US Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office’s (LPO) Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program. The $475-million loan amount... Read more →
Li-Cycle Holdings entered into an agreement with Glencore covering the off-take of 100% of the mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) to be produced at Li-Cycle’s Rochester Hub. By amending and restating certain of its existing commercial agreements with Glencore and Traxys North America, Li-Cycle has established the commercial framework for the... Read more →
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $44.8 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for eight projects that will lower costs of recycling electric drive vehicle batteries and electric drive vehicle battery components, with the long-term aim of lowering vehicle costs. The demand for EVs and stationary... Read more →
USC researchers have developed a new process to upcycle the composite materials appearing in automobile panels and light rail vehicles, addressing a current environmental challenge in the transportation and energy sectors. The study recently appeared in the Journal of American Chemical Society. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to... Read more →
UK-based Altilium launched Recell.store, a new online platform that offers businesses a safe and efficient solution for recycling and responsible disposal of spent EV batteries. Addressing the growing volume of end-of-life EV batteries expected over the coming decade, the new platform underlines Altilium’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of... Read more →
Eramet has suspended its ReLieVe battery recycling project in Europe, pending a solid and sustainable economic model in Europe. We remain convinced of the need to develop a circular economy for critical metals on European soil, and end-of-life battery recycling will be a key element in this future value chain.... Read more →
Mercedes-Benz opened Europe’s first battery recycling plant with an integrated mechanical-hydrometallurgical process making it the first car manufacturer worldwide to close the battery recycling loop with its own in-house facility. Unlike existing established processes, the expected recovery rate of the mechanical-hydrometallurgical recycling plant is more than 96%. Valuable and scarce... Read more →
Kia Corporation (Kia) has developed the world’s first car accessory made from plastic extracted from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) by The Ocean Cleanup. Since 2022, Kia’s support of the non-profit organization, which is dedicated to developing and scaling technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, has been... Read more →
In a world’s first for heavy vehicle makers, Scania’s has integrated reused components on its main assembly line in Sweden. The achievement took place earlier this year as part of the iReGear joint research project with KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Scandinavian Transmission Service AB, and was made possible... Read more →
Altilium, a UK-based clean technology group focused on supporting the transition to net zero, announced a project to produce and validate EV battery cells using materials recovered from end-of-life EV batteries. In a first for the UK, the project will demonstrate battery cells produced with recovered cathode active materials (CAM)... Read more →
Constellium is partnering with Tesem, a global leader in luxury packaging, to advance sustainable aluminum production through an initiative called “Closing the Loop.” This collaboration underscores Constellium’s dedication to reducing environmental impact and promoting circular economy practices. Through this partnership, Constellium will work closely with Tesem to create a closed-loop... Read more →
Commercial operations of Hydro’s advanced scrap sorting technology have started at PADNOS’s sorting hub in Grandville, Michigan. Only ten months ago, Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company Hydro partnered with scrap management enterprise PADNOS to create Alusort LLC. Alusort is owned fifty-fifty by Hydro and PADNOS, and is located to... Read more →
American Battery Technology Company, an integrated critical battery materials company that is commercializing its technologies for both primary battery minerals manufacturing and secondary minerals lithium-ion battery recycling, has been selected for $150 million dollars of federal investment by the UA Department of Energy to be applied towards the construction of... Read more →
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced an intent (DE-FOA-0003343) to fund up to $70 million for projects that will improve the economics of electric drive vehicle battery recovery and re-use. Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this investment supports research, development, and demonstration of second-life applications for batteries once... Read more →
BMW of North America and Redwood Materials are partnering to recycle lithium-ion batteries from all electric, plug-in hybrid-electric, and mild hybrid BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, and BMW Motorrad vehicles in the US. The partnership demonstrates a shared commitment to sustainability, and is the next step towards creating a closed-loop circular value... Read more →
The Department of Defense announced a $4.22-million award to Rare Earth Salts in Nebraska for developing and expanding production of terbium oxide from recycled fluorescent light bulbs. Terbium is an essential element for rare earth magnets in many key defense systems. This effort is funded through the Defense Production Act... Read more →
Trederra, a provider of sustainable material recycled rubber solutions for the footwear market, announced an exclusive supply agreement with Tyre Recycling Solutions (TRS) of Switzerland supporting the production of Trederra footwear outsoles made from end-of-life tires. TRS will supply Trederra with CT-50 rubber powder which is manufactured using the patented... Read more →
The Mitsubishi Chemical Group has launched studies to perform chemical recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs) by utilizing the coke ovens at its Kagawa Plant (Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture). The MCG Group aims to begin marketing sustainable carbon black made from ELTs by March 2026. Along with the accelerating trend in... Read more →
Researchers in Spain have developed a two-stage lithium recovery process applied to two different black masses from NMC 622 electric vehicle batteries after prior crushing and separation stages. In the first stage, hydrolysis is used to extract lithium compounds from the degradation products of the electrolyte (LiPF6). In the second... Read more →
IDTechEx forecasts that US$110 billion of critical materials will be recovered annually from secondary sources by 2045, with a combined weight of more than 3.3 million tonnes. IDTechEx predicts that the critical material recovery market will grow at a CAGR of 12.7% from 2025-2045. Annual value of critical material recovery... Read more →
Cyclic Materials, an advanced metals recycling company building a circular supply chain for rare earth elements and other critical metals, has signed a collaboration agreement for the recycling of electric motors containing rare earths with SYNETIQ, an IAA company and the UK’s leading integrated vehicle salvage and recycling company. The... Read more →
The US Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the availability of up to $63 million to enable state and local governments to expand battery recycling and modernize American manufacturing by making technologies such as advanced sensors and modeling more accessible to small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). (DE-FOA-0003376) Collecting spent batteries... Read more →
Continental has concluded a long-term purchase agreement with Pyrum Innovations, a specialist in the thermolysis technology of end-of-life tires, for particularly high-quality carbon black (rCB) recovered from end-of-life tires. Pyrum thermolysis involves the thermal decomposition of organic substances or rubber and plastic waste in the absence of oxygen. The process... Read more →