There is a reason why I really like Accurec Recycling GmbH, a European company that has been processing lithium-ion batteries for about a decade.
Accurec hopes its new facility can help reduce that dependence. While the company does not claim its technology can solve Europe’s raw materials challenges on its own, it sees domestic battery recycling as an important step towards diversifying supply and keeping valuable materials within Europe rather than exporting them.
That is from a Euronews article about them and is something you do not normally see from lithium-ion recyclers. While it has become more prevalent for those, like Accurec, who have reached at least some level of commercial scale to acknowledge where they fit into the larger picture, most of the ones who are still at pre-commercial scale will instead go for the lithium-ion recycling is the way to eliminate the environmentally damaging mining and create a true green closed-loop economy.
All you need is recycling…
When I see that kind of propaganda, it is usually enough cause to ignore the company pushing that narrative. Lithium-ion recycling, or if you prefer to use the terms reclamation and refinement, is a loss prevention platform and a mechanism for maintaining material within what is called a regenerative industrial model where external inputs are supplemented by internal recovery and reuse.
S&P Global did an article the other day talking about the snapback on the price of lithium carbonate and how in August production was down 2.5% with 96,000 metric tons. What China produced in one month is over 9x what the United States produces in an entire year.
Recycling is the first step in building a domestic battery materials supply chain, and without it, the industry is bleeding material before it can even get fully started. But it will take primary sources to fill and build out the entire supply chain. And that will be the norm until the material already in the system hits a critical mass and is sufficient to meet the demand of manufacturers at such a volume that external inputs are then used as supplemental inputs; until then, recycling is a loss prevention platform.
The companies to watch are the ones who understand that synergy.
Another reason I really Accurec is for their platform, they have created a K.I.S.S. process for recycling lithium-ion, and the way they pre-treat the cells to make them open up without external physical force is a prime example of this.
In a first process step, the process chamber is evacuated while simultaneously heating the energy storage device to a first temperature level to such an extent that the electrolytes evaporate and, as a result of the resulting vapor pressure, the energy stores are opened.
They cook the cells until they pop open, that works so well that we can see a version of that process in several other platforms.
After the cells are opened up, they collect and then treat/scrub any of the harmful gases that are created when a lithium-ion cell is exposed to high heat, which are the exact same gases used to open the cells. Those gases are created from the decomposition of the binders and electrolyte, and this is one of the reasons why companies thermally pre-treat cells: it’s easier to recover a material when its no longer glued to a metallic foil.
As for lithium, they are doing an early-stage lithium recovery using roasting and carbonation, which can result in some of the highest lithium recovery out there when compared to traditional leaching, but by using carbothermic reduction and basic water leaching, most ESLR systems like this can obtain over 90% recovery of lithium.
Due to how lithium is the mobile ion in the cell, it can be one of the hardest materials to recover because it gets into everything and hides, forcing recyclers to hunt for it and try to pry it out.
The most important part of this article however is at the bottom where they talk about how Asian countries like Korea are willing to pay a higher premium for black mass because they are able to absorb that premium further downstream because they have the cell manufacturing infrastructure.
That problem is behind some of the reasons the Department of Commerce’s BIS black mass export rule was created with the requirement that 100% of the black mass be for use in domestic production. In the EU, since Korea is an OECD country, black mass producers can export black mass to them with very little regulatory obstruction. Requirements found in such things as the Basel Convention, even with black mass being categorized as hazardous waste, can be met, causing the critical materials in that black mass to be lost to the EU.
By including only exceptions to avoid harm to a company, temporary export for refinement, and the possibility that by restricting the export the rule inadvertently causes less critical minerals to be available in the US, the rule closes that gap that is found in the current set of EU rules.
This is also why I see US-based companies like R3 Lithium and American Battery Technology Company (ABAT) being more important in the short to midterm due to the shift from ternary chemistries in the US that would have been the main demand due to their use in EVs to lithium iron phosphate.
Both those platforms employ an ESLR component, and while they do end up with a lithium-depleted black mass that has to be dealt with, their platforms do extract the lithium without needing a full hydrometallurgical stage, creating less of a chance of that lithium being lost and making it available to domestic manufacturers without the entire periodic table of battery metals also being extracted.
There is also another company, and why them receiving a DOE grant makes a lot of sense: Nth Cycle. While their platform does create another intermediate, mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), it does allow for the creation of a lithium precursor without fully committing to battery grade for the rest of the metals.
On a technical note, while ABAT is targeting a hydroxide instead of a carbonate, adding a carbonation reactor to the platform or a simpler precipitation method off their system 4 may be financially viable because it would allow them to tap into the growing demand for lithium carbonate due to ESS. If I remember right, some lithium carbonate production equipment was part of the insolvency sale of Lithion Technologies.
Before anyone goes, “Wait a minute, we need all of the materials in black mass” and you are right that the United States needs platforms that can extract and refine all of the battery materials from black mass, however, for now, if we can get a jump on the lithium portion, these companies can get the United States a bit further down the road when it comes to creating a domestic battery materials supply chain.
I also think this rule will make direct recycling a more attractive and increase funding for the tech and the companies behind it. Instead of a platform where the cathode material is cooked and/or leached in order to create black mass or a battery-grade material, is is instead cleaned and separated then regenerated to produce one of the true supply chain bottlenecks in the United States: cathode active material (CAM).
In the context of manufacturing scrap, which is pretty homogenous and a prime candidate for this technology, direct recycling recovers the material and produces new CAM in one platform.
That is one of the reasons why I am keeping a close eye on Princeton NuEnergy; another is I will be able to use a chocolate-covered cherry analogy when describing their regeneration process. But it is because of them and a few others that if I had to pick a state to relocate to in the battery belt it would be Georgia.
Upcoming articles:
I am working on two things, well three really, but the third is kind of dependent on correspondence.
First, I am almost done with the company research for the DOE grants that will be used to shepherd some technologies from bench to prototype or prototype to pre-commercial scale.
These technologies will be able to take waste streams, whether industrial or mining; in fact, one eliminates a waste stream while extracting the primary metal. But these new technologies plan to take waste streams, reprocess them, and extract the critical materials that can be found in them.
I have also added the content needed to understand where the United States stands when it comes to recovering materials from these waste streams. The main problem is almost everything regulation-wise that is in place now and has sufficient legal precedent is focused on primary sources, not secondary.
This regulatory gap is requiring new definitions of what a deposit is and new legislation to allow companies to process these waste streams and be profitable at the same time.
Second, I am still working on how automation and AI are changing the way lithium-ion is recycled, which is why I was reading about how companies are employing video game engines to help them create disassembly sequences for a traction battery when a digital twin is not available.
Another interesting aspect involves exploring a system that allows a platform to make educated estimates based on multiple inputs to find the most efficient way to dismantle a traction battery. This process relies on metaheuristic algorithms that use swarm intelligence; without a twin, trying to hard-code every possible sequence is just too costly and time-consuming.
And what is the third?
Actually, there are a couple, and once again they are dependent on correspondence. I have reached out to a few companies to see if we can get more details about what they plan to produce from secondary sources and how they plan to do it. If you are interested in doing an interview or just having a conversation, send me an email.
Finally, September is almost over, and the bulk of it for me has been relegated to doing research. In fact, I went out into the wilds just to get away from everything to focus entirely on research.
October I will finally have the data to provide the context needed to get out some very informative and relevant articles that look at where the industry is and how the bills and regulations being worked on this year will affect these companies.
If you found this article valuable, consider becoming a subscriber. The Critical Materials Bulletin is supported by readers, and for $5 a month or $55 a year you can help fund research that produces clear, no nonsense reporting that informs and advances the discussion on critical materials and battery metals.
Alternatively, if do not want to commit to a subscription, you can instead buy Abe a treat or two. And in doing so you can help support my goal of taking the Critical Materials Bulletin on the road, to visit these facilities as they launch, and to continue my conversations with these companies in person.
Buy
DISCLAIMER: This article should not be construed as an offering of investment advice, nor should any statements (by the author or by other persons and/or entities that the author has included) in this article be taken as investment advice or recommendations of any investment strategy. The information in this article is for educational purposes only. The author did not receive compensation, from any of the companies and or persons mentioned to be included in the article.