This is the fourth Li-Cycle recycling facility in North America and has capacity to process up to 10,000 tonnes of manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries per year. The plant can recycle the equivalent of batteries required for approximately 20,000 EVs per year and has the ability to directly process full EV battery packs.
The Alabama Spoke uses Li-Cycle’s patented and environmentally friendly technology to recycle and directly process full EV battery packs without any dismantling through a submerged shredding process that produces no wastewater. Additionally, Li-Cycle says that its full pack processing capability improves efficiency and is fit to process the growing variety of EV battery architectures, including cell-to-pack formats that have limited options for dismantling, which further differentiates the company’s value proposition.
By the end of 2023, the company expects to have a total of 65,000 tonnes per year of lithium-ion battery material processing capacity across its network in North America and Europe.
The primary output product of Li-Cycle’s four Spokes is black mass, consisting of highly valuable critical metals, including lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which the company will convert into battery-grade materials at its first commercial North American Hub facility. The Hub facility is under construction in Rochester, NY and Li-Cycle expects that it will be capable of processing 35,000 tonnes of black mass annually, with battery materials equivalent to approximately 225,000 EVs.
Li-Cycle plans to commission the Rochester Hub next year. The plant is expected to be the first commercial hydrometallurgical battery resource recovery facility and the first source of recycled battery-grade lithium carbonate production in North America.
