Li-Cycle & Helbiz Partner To Advance Battery Recycling In Micro-Mobility

July 23, 2021

Original article published in Cleantechnica

Li-Cycle, which is focused on providing customer-centric, end-of-life solutions for lithium-ion batteries while also creating a secondary supply of critical battery materials, has announced a partnership with Helbiz. Helbiz focuses on micro-mobility, and together, the two companies are partnering up to create a safe and sustainable recycling solution for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries used in e-scooters and e-bikes.

Helbiz is developing the infrastructure to create greener cities that have less congestion, noise, and pollution while giving riders faster and a more affordable way to get to and from their destinations. The company has fleets of e-scooters and e-bikes and noted that the transportation shift is continuing to accelerate.

Li-Cycle will bring its Spoke & Hub Technologies™ to efficiently, safely, and sustainably recover end-of-life batteries from Helbiz’s fleets and recover the valuable materials within the batteries and bring the back into the supply chain.

Li-Cycle expects to recycle 500 lithium-ion batteries from Helbiz e-bikes and e-scooters in the coming months. The company also noted that the volume is set to increase heading into 2022 as it supports Helbiz’s operations in the U.S. and abroad.

The company also plans to support Helbiz’s 2022 net-zero emission targets while facilitating its ability to achieve a 100% recycling target. Helbiz aims to advance sustainability efforts in the micro-mobility sector while minimizing the environmental footprint of shared scooters and e-bikes.

Kunal Phalpher, Chief Commercial Officer of Li-Cycle, shared his thoughts on this partnership. “We believe Li-Cycle and Helbiz are ideal partners as we are two innovative companies working toward the same vision for a sustainable electric mobility sector,” said Phalpher. “This partnership represents a critical first step for our collaboration as we seek to create a closed lithium-ion battery recycling loop on a global scale. Together, we intend to recover valuable materials from old scooters and e-bikes to be reused in new ones in cities around the world via a truly sustainable, fit-for-purpose pathway.”

Helbiz’s Chief Marketing Officer, Ruggero Cipriani Foresio, shared some thoughts on the new collaboration with Li-Cycle as well. “We are proud to partner with Li-Cycle and look forward to working closely with their team to develop and implement a safe and sustainable recycling solution for the batteries used in our e-scooters and e-bikes.

“This collaboration further supports our commitment to worldwide sustainability and our dedication to lead each city we operate in towards a greener future.”

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Li-Cycle’s Chief Commercial Officer, Kunal Phalpher. He shared with me some goals of going public and how North America’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling company plans to take on battery recycling. You can listen to that interview here.

Li-Cycle × Peridot

I asked Phalpher about going public, but at the time, he couldn’t share details. However, a press release from Li-Cycle and Peridot was recently emailed to me following movement on that.

Li-Cycle and Peridot Acquisition Corporation received approval to combine forces from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Peridot’s shareholders just have to officially approve.

Ajay Kochhar, cofounder and CEO of Li-Cycle, said: “Our mission is to solve the global battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life battery problem and simultaneously create a secondary supply of critical battery metals, while also ensuring a sustainable future for our planet.

‘We have made significant commercial progress since announcing the transaction with Peridot: we partnered with Ultium, LLC, a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solutions, to recycle up to 100% of the scrap generated by battery cell manufacturing at Ultium’s Lordstown, Ohio megafactory; we announced our next Spoke facility in the Phoenix, Arizona area, which when complete will be capable of processing up to 10,000 tonnes of end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap per year; and we further bolstered our technological moat, with the USPTO granting us two utility patents.

“The completion of the business combination with Peridot will enable Li-Cycle to capitalize on significant growth opportunities, expand globally, and continue to advance our patented Spoke & Hub Technologies.”