Toronto-based Li-Cycle Corp. announced that its spokes facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has entered commercial operation.
The Alabama facility joins the company’s other spokes in Gilbert, Arizona. Rochester, New York. and Kingston, Ontario.
The company said its spokes in Alabama are strategically placed to support the recycling needs of its growing battery supply customer base in the southeastern United States, adding that the region’s EV supply chain is well positioned for battery and He added that it continues to develop as automakers establish their businesses.
Li-Cycle co-founder and CEO Ajay Kochhar said: safe way. Li-Cycle makes domestic supply of recycled materials essential to support EV production and help automakers meet domestic production content requirements. ”
Li-Cycle’s Alabama Spoke is over 100,000 square feet with nearly 120,000 square feet of additional warehouse capacity. Li-Cycle said the facility has the same design as its Arizona plant that opened earlier this year and is operating near its target throughput. The Alabama spokes will create approximately 45 new jobs and incorporate major process improvement and optimization projects implemented in Arizona. The new facility will have a total input processing capacity of 10,000 tons of lithium-ion battery material per year, with flexibility to expand capacity in the future, the company added.
“Li-Cycle’s new battery recycling facility in Tuscaloosa adds a dynamic new dimension to Alabama’s evolving automotive industry,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “This facility will play a key role in the lifecycle of the batteries that power electric vehicles by contributing to innovative sustainability solutions.”
Li-Cycle currently has a total input handling capacity of 30,000 tons per year with four spokes operating in North America. That’s about 60,000 electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
The main product of Li-Cycle spokes is a black mass composed of lithium, cobalt and some nickel. Li-Cycle will convert this material into battery grade material at its first commercial North American hub facility under construction in Rochester. The company says it expects to be able to process 35,000 tons of black lumps annually with about 225,000 EV’s worth of battery material. Li-Cycle said it is targeting commissioning of its Rochester hub in 2023.
The Rochester hub facility will be able to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate using a hydrometallurgical process.
By the end of 2023, the company expects to have a combined lithium-ion battery material processing capacity of 65,000 tons per year across its spoke network in North America and Europe.
In Europe, Li-Cycle has announced plans to build facilities in Norway and Germany. From 2023, each will be able to process 10,000 tons of lithium-ion batteries per year. Our Norwegian facility is affiliated with Eco Stor AS in Oslo, Norway. , Morrow Batteries AS (Arendal, Norway), but Li-Cycle will be the majority owner.
The company says the next North American spoke is planned for Ohio. The company describes it as North America’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling spokes facility, which he says will be co-located with the Ultium Cells battery cell manufacturing giant in Warren, Ohio.
