Recycling Good, Upcycling Better? RecycLiCo Battery Materials Aims High

It might not be enough to simply recycle, you seemingly have to upcycle, too. 

Breaking down old materials to produce individual products is a good start, but what if superior technology can lead to even better outcomes by upcycling material to a near final product?

That’s what one British Columbia-based company involved in the lithium-ion battery industry says it is focusing on.

Lithium-ion batteries are key to the quickly emerging electric vehicle (EV) industry. Giants in the sector such as Tesla Inc. TSLA and General Motors Co. GM are actively investing in lithium-ion battery production to optimize their supply chains.

Surrey, British Columbia-based American Manganese Inc. (TSX.V: AMY) AMYZF, is getting noticed for its reportedly superior recycling and upcycling technology regarding sustainable lithium-ion battery production.

Simpler Processes, Less Waste?

Doing business as RecycLiCo Battery Materials, the company uses its patented  process to recycle and upcycle waste lithium-ion battery materials. The company reports that its technology also involves far fewer processing steps than its competitors, which use standard chemical leach and more complex processing operations that include the use of expensive chemicals such as extraction solvents.

The results for RecycLiCo Battery Materials are not only improved material extraction but also reduced environmental emissions.

The recycling comes in the shape of up to 100% of leach extraction efficiency of lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt while the upcycling is in the form of a synthesis of high-value, specifically engineered cathode precursor material and lithium chemicals.

Environmentally, the company’s processing techniques produce 166% fewer carbon dioxide equivalent emissions than its competitors, RecycLiCo says. As the company points out, not all hydrometallurgy is the same.

EVs May Point The Way Forward

By 2030, it is estimated there could be approximately 230 million EVs operating around the globe, the majority of which will run on lithium-ion batteries.

While the supply chain for EV growth and lithium-ion batteries continues to be dominated by China, there is also an emerging European and North American market, RecycLiCo says. By 2031, those two regions will have approximately 1,400 gigawatt hours (GWh) of lithium-ion cell battery capacity, according to data cited by the company. For comparison, that is the estimated gigawatts of energy storage that the UK is projected to need to meet the 80% carbon emission reduction goal by 2050 set prior to net zero carbon emissions becoming legally binding. 

The company reports working on a demonstration plant to exhibit its technology in scaled-up operating conditions and to make such operations commercially achievable from 2023 onward.

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Featured photo by Kumpan Electric on Unsplash