Li-Cycle boosts capacity for New York EV battery recycling plant

December 14, 2021

Original article published in Reuters

Dec 14 (Reuters) – Li-Cycle Holdings Corp (LICY.N) said on Tuesday it will expand the capacity of a lithium-ion battery recycling facility it is building in Rochester, New York, due to the rising volume of scrap in the United States.

The facility will now be built to process 35,000 tonnes annually of waste from the electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing process, 40% larger than initially expected.

Construction is slated to begin later this month and finish by 2023. The Toronto-based company plans to spend $485 million on the facility.

General Motors Co (GM.N) and other automakers have recently announced plans to build EV production facilities in the United States. Li-Cycle will process scrap from those operations as part of the so-called circular economy in order to recycle battery metals and rely less on new mines.

Roughly 5% to 10% of the EV battery manufacturing process produces waste that can be recycled, the company estimates.

“There’s way more scrap material in the market then we ever expected,” said Ajay Kochhar, Li-Cycle’s chief executive.

The company earlier this year said it would open a recycling facility in Alabama to compliment sites in Ontario and Arizona.