Li-Cycle Receives Approval for Government Grant from State of Saxony-Anhalt for Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Facility

Saxony-Anhalt Minister of Economy, Sven Schulze, visits Li-Cycle facility as Company receives approval for a grant of up to €6.4 million for German Spoke operations

MAGDEBURG, Germany (February 7, 2024) – Li-Cycle Germany GmbH, a subsidiary of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (NYSE: LICY) (“Li-Cycle” or the “Company”), a leading global lithium-ion battery resource recovery company, is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the State of Saxony-Anhalt for a grant of up to €6.4 million for its lithium-ion battery Spoke recycling facility, located in Sülzetal, Saxony-Anhalt, as part of the “Improving the Regional Economic Structure” program.

Today, the Company was honoured to host the Minister of Economy for Saxony-Anhalt, Mr. Sven Schulze, at the recycling facility, which opened in August 2023 as the Company’s first European Spoke. During the visit and tour of the Germany Spoke, Minister Schulze was joined by Richard Storrie, Li-Cycle’s Regional President, EMEA, and the two exchanged views on the importance of both safe and environmentally friendly battery recycling and supporting a localized battery materials supply chain in Germany.

“Li-Cycle is one of the world’s leading companies in the battery recycling and resource recovery space, which is an important industry for the future,” said Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr. Sven Schulze.  “We are pleased to be able to support the investment of another innovative and globally active player in our federal state. This will not only create jobs, it will also have further effects for the municipality of Sülzetal and for Saxony-Anhalt as a business location.”

“We would like to extend our gratitude to Minster Schulze and Saxony-Anhalt for providing this grant approval, which further endorses the positive impact of our technologies and our ability to support clean energy jobs in Germany,” said Mr. Storrie. “Li-Cycle aims to help create a regional closed loop ecosystem of critical battery materials to support green energy goals for Germany and the EU, while accelerating the transition to electric vehicles.”

The Germany Spoke utilizes Li-Cycle’s novel and patented technology to sustainably recycle lithium-ion battery materials in a safe and efficient submerged shredding process. Li-Cycle’s Germany Spoke can also process full electric vehicle and energy storage battery packs without the need for disassembly, discharging, or thermal processes, and it is capable of recycling all types of lithium-ion battery materials regardless of chemistry or form factor. The Germany Spoke currently has annual lithium-ion battery processing capacity of up to 10,000 tonnes per year, with potential to expand up to 30,000 tonnes per year, making it one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe.

About Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.

Li-Cycle (NYSE: LICY) is a leading global lithium-ion battery resource recovery company. Established in 2016, and with major customers and partners around the world, Li-Cycle is on a mission to recover critical battery-grade materials to create a domestic closed-loop battery supply chain for a clean energy future. The Company leverages its innovative, sustainable and patent-protected Spoke & Hub Technologies™ to recycle all different types of lithium-ion batteries.  At our Spokes, or pre-processing facilities, we recycle battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries to produce black mass, a powder-like substance which contains a number of valuable metals, including lithium, nickel and cobalt.  At our future Hubs, or post-processing facilities, we plan to process black mass to produce critical battery-grade materials, including lithium carbonate, for the lithium-ion battery supply chain. For more information, visit https://li-cycle.com/.

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Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21 of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of words such as “believe”, “may”, “will”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect”, “should”, “would”, “could”, “plan”, “potential”, “future”, “target” or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Forward-looking statements in this press release include but are not limited to statements about: the positive impact of Li-Cycle’s technologies and the Company’s ability to support clean energy jobs in Germany; Li-Cycle’s intent to help create a regional closed loop ecosystem of critical battery materials to support green energy goals for Germany and the EU, while accelerating the transition to electric vehicles; and the potential for the Germany Spoke to expand its capacity to process up to 30,000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery materials per year. There can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct and, as a result, actual results or events may differ materially from expectations expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. 

These forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of assisting readers in understanding certain key elements of Li-Cycle’s current objectives, goals, targets, strategic priorities, expectations and plans, and in obtaining a better understanding of Li-Cycle’s business and anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes and is not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on, by any investor as a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Li-Cycle, and are not guarantees of future performance. Li-Cycle believes that these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: additional funds required to meet Li-Cycle’s capital and operating requirements in the future not being available to Li-Cycle on acceptable terms or at all when it needs them; Li-Cycle may engage in strategic transactions, including financing and mergers and acquisitions activity, that could disrupt its business, cause dilution to its shareholders, reduce its financial resources, result in incurrence of secured and unsecured debt, or prove not to be successful; Li-Cycle’s inability to economically and efficiently source, recover and recycle lithium-ion batteries and lithium-ion battery manufacturing scrap, as well as third party black mass, and to meet the market demand for an environmentally sound, closed-loop solution for manufacturing waste and end-of-life lithium-ion batteries; Li-Cycle’s inability to successfully implement its global growth strategy, on a timely basis or at all; Li-Cycle’s inability to manage future global growth effectively; Li-Cycle’s inability to develop the Rochester Hub, and other future projects including its Spoke network expansion projects in a timely manner or on budget or that those projects will not meet expectations with respect to their productivity or the specifications of their end products; Li-Cycle’s failure to materially increase recycling capacity and efficiency; one or more of Li-Cycle’s current or future facilities becoming inoperative, capacity constrained or if its operations are disrupted; Li-Cycle expects to continue to incur significant expenses and may not achieve or sustain profitability; problems with the handling of lithium-ion battery cells that result in less usage of lithium-ion batteries or affect Li-Cycle’s operations; Li-Cycle’s inability to maintain and increase feedstock supply commitments as well as securing new customers and off-take agreements; a decline in the adoption rate of EVs, or a decline in the support by governments for “green” energy technologies; decreases in benchmark prices for the metals contained in Li-Cycle’s products; changes in the volume or composition of feedstock materials processed at Li-Cycle’s facilities; the development of an alternative chemical make-up of lithium-ion batteries or battery alternatives; Li-Cycle’s revenues for the Rochester Hub are derived significantly from a single customer; Li-Cycle’s insurance may not cover all liabilities and damages; Li-Cycle’s heavy reliance on the experience and expertise of its management; Li-Cycle’s reliance on third-party consultants for its regulatory compliance; Li-Cycle is, and may become, subject to legal proceedings that could require Li-Cycle to incur significant legal expenses and divert management’s attention away from operating Li-Cycle’s business;  Li-Cycle’s inability to complete its recycling processes as quickly as customers may require; Li-Cycle’s inability to compete successfully; increases in income tax rates, changes in income tax laws or disagreements with tax authorities; significant variance in Li-Cycle’s operating and financial results from period to period due to fluctuations in its operating costs and other factors; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates which could result in declines in reported sales and net earnings; unfavorable economic conditions, such as consequences of the global COVID-19 pandemic; natural disasters, unusually adverse weather, epidemic or pandemic outbreaks, cyber incidents, boycotts and geo-political events; failure to protect or enforce Li-Cycle’s intellectual property; Li-Cycle may be subject to intellectual property rights claims by third parties; Li-Cycle’s failure to effectively remediate the material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting that it has identified or if it fails to develop and maintain a proper and effective internal control over financial reporting. These and other risks and uncertainties related to Li-Cycle’s business are described in greater detail in the section entitled “Risk Factors” and “Key Factors Affecting Li-Cycle’s Performance” in its Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada. Because of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.

Li-Cycle assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Li-Cycle’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

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