Li-Cycle Corp., an industry leader in lithium-ion battery resource recovery and the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, today announced that the Company will build its third commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility, to be located in Gilbert, Arizona, within the Phoenix metropolitan area.
When complete, Li-Cycle’s “Spoke 3” facility will be capable of processing up to 10,000 tonnes of end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap per year, bringing Li-Cycle’s total recycling capacity to 20,000 tonnes per year. The construction of Spoke 3 builds on Li-Cycle’s existing North American Spokes, located in Rochester, New York and Kingston, Ontario, and is part of Li-Cycle’s strategic roadmap to construct twenty Spokes globally over the next five years. The Phoenix metropolitan area is strategically located close to Li-Cycle’s existing battery supply network, as well as being at the nexus of where there will be continued growth in the quantity of lithium-ion batteries available for recycling.
“Once completed, our newest Spoke facility will add significant recycling capacity to Li-Cycle, strategically expanding the geographic footprint of our closed-loop solution for recycling lithium-ion battery materials,” said Tim Johnston, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Li-Cycle. “Our Arizona Spoke will have two 5,000 tonne processing lines, effectively doubling our total recycling capacity in North America. It will also be engineered to directly process full electric vehicle packs without any dismantling. Spoke 3 will mark another important milestone as we continue to execute on our global growth plans and scale our sustainable, safe and innovative Spoke & Hub Technologies™.”
“Arizona is thrilled to be selected as the home of Li-Cycle’s new lithium battery recycling plant,” said Governor Doug Ducey. “This new facility will support Arizona’s growing electric vehicle industry by helping meet the demand for battery materials – in a way that’s sustainable and environmentally friendly. Li-Cycle is a welcome addition to Arizona’s thriving technology ecosystem, and we thank their entire team for choosing Arizona.”
Li-Cycle’s Spokes convert battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries into intermediate products, including “black mass”, a powder substance which contains a variety of metals, including lithium, cobalt and nickel. The Spokes will supply black mass to Li-Cycle’s future North American Hub, which is currently in late-stage development in Rochester, New York. The North American Hub will process black mass through a hydrometallurgical circuit to produce critical, battery-grade materials, including lithium carbonate, cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate, as well as other recycled materials that can be returned to the economy. Li-Cycle’s patented Spoke & Hub Technologies™ minimize the overall environmental footprint of the end-to-end resource recovery process, and substantially reduce the intensity of GHG emissions that would otherwise be produced from mining these finite resources.
“With our rapidly expanding electric vehicle sector and focus on sustainability, Arizona is the perfect destination for Li-Cycle’s western-U.S. battery recycling hub,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “The Company’s cutting-edge technology fills a growing supply chain need while providing an eco-friendly solution for battery recycling. Arizona is proud to be a partner in Li-Cycle’s success and contribute to the positive impact they will continue to have.”
The imperative for economically and environmentally sustainable resource recycling is growing in lockstep with the rapid growth of battery manufacturing. Li-Cycle utilizes its proprietary Spoke & Hub Technologies™ to achieve the industry-leading recovery rate of up to 95% resource mass recovery and to produce the critical battery materials underpinning the global growth in electric vehicle production. Legacy recycling technologies have largely relied on thermal operations, which can emit harmful emissions and result in lower recovery rates. The Company’s two-stage battery recycling model enables customers to benefit from a safe and environmentally friendly solution for recycling all types of lithium-ion materials.
On February 16, 2021, Li-Cycle announced its entry into a definitive business combination agreement with Peridot Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: PDAC) (“Peridot”). Upon the closing of the business combination, which is expected in the second quarter of 2021, the combined company will be named Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. Li-Cycle intends to apply to list the common shares of the combined company on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol, “LICY.”
Li-Cycle is on a mission to leverage its innovative Spoke & Hub Technologies™ to provide a customer-centric, end-of-life solution for lithium-ion batteries, while creating a secondary supply of critical battery materials. Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are increasingly powering our world in automotive, energy storage, consumer electronics, and other industrial and household applications. The world needs improved technology and supply chain innovations to better manage battery manufacturing waste and end-of-life batteries and to meet the rapidly growing demand for critical and scarce battery-grade raw materials through a closed-loop solution.
