Li-Cycle team named to Canada’s Clean16

September 22, 2021

Original article published in Waste Recycling

Four members of lithium-ion battery recycler Li-Cycle Holdings Corp’s executive team have been named to Canada’s Clean16 as the category leader for Clean Technology.

Canada’s Clean50 for 2022 consists of 50 individuals, or small teams, recognized for their contributions in sustainability over the past two years. The winners were selected from 16 diverse categories across a variety of industries, academia, different levels of government, thought leaders, and advocates.

The leader of each of the 16 categories is declared to be part of the Clean16, highlighting the top contributors in their respective categories.

“Li-Cycle has developed and commercialized a new sustainable and safe technology to address end-of-life batteries for both EVs and consumer electronics to truly enable a closed loop economy,” said Gavin Pitchford, CEO of Delta Management Group which organizes Canada’s Clean50.

“The normal recycler creates a footprint of 2.66 tonnes of CO2 per Li-ion battery tonne processed, while recovering only 50 percent of the components for reuse and producing PFAS in the process. By contrast, Li-Cycle’s patented Spoke & Hub technology does not generate any PFAS compounds, recovers up to 95 percent of all recyclable battery materials, generates minimal wastewater, and generates only 1.75 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of recycled batteries. Overall, [it creates] a 74% reduction in CO2 emissions, 92% reduction in NOx emissions, 92% reduction in SOx emissions, and 97% reduction in water usage.”

The Canada’s Clean50 awards, created in 2011 to annually identify, recognize and connect 50 sustainability leaders from every sector of Canadian endeavor, in order to facilitate understanding, collaboration and innovation in the fight to keep climate change impacts below 1.5 degrees Celsius.