RecycLiCo Battery Materials partners with Hatch on building battery recycling plant

A group of Canadian and Taiwanese companies are beefing up Taiwan’s circular economy in lithium batteries. Under a recently announced agreement, RecycLiCo Battery Materials and Hatch will supervise Kemetco, the contractor building a stage 2 battery recycling plant in Vancouver. As an August 1 press release explained, upon completion of the project, the companies plan to move the finished expanded modular facility to Taiwan.

The proposed plant and journey is a joint venture with Zenith Chemical, another Taiwanese company with Canadian roots, the company’s website noted. After designing the plant, the companies hope to sign an agreement to begin construction this year. Once operating, the plant will process at least 2,000 metric tons of disused batteries annually.

It would convert byproducts of batteries like black mass and black powder into high-value products, including battery-grade lithium chemicals and precursor cathode active materials. RecycLiCo’s advanced technologies extract as much as 99 percent of battery-grade lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese from disused energy sources.

The project would help advance the circular economy in lithium and other metals that are essential for cars, construction, and handled devices. Rather than digging up new metals, reusing and recycling them would cut environmental damage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

“We are excited to have Hatch on board with us for this project,” said RecycLiCo Interim Chief Executive Officer Richard Sadowsky. “Their years of engineering and business experience will be of great value to us as we continue to move past the venture stage and provide the industry with a commercially viable and effective recycling solution.” ce/jd