RecycLiCo has closed the loop for lithium

RecycLiCo Battery Materials Inc. announced it has successfully closed the lithium-ion battery supply chain loop with its patented recycling and upcycling process.

Closed-loop battery recycling is a method of recycling that aims to re-use all materials from an original discharged battery and re-purpose them into a new version of the same battery. This method also represents an important shift from a linear economy to a circular economy.

Using the company's battery-ready material, new battery cells were successfully assembled, and their performance was validated by a third-party company, C4V.

An intellectual property company that creates next-generation storage materials with expertise in electrode design and process development to fast-track gigafactory deployment across the globe, C4V's technology is foundational to the iM3NY lithium-ion battery gigafactory in Endicott, New York.

"C4V is pleased to confirm RecycLiCo's recycled materials have successfully achieved qualification status through our Supply Chain Partner Qualification program," said C4V's Chief Business Development Officer Cliff Olin. "We look forward to further testing and the opportunity to help demonstrate the viability of recycling within the lithium-ion battery value chain which is built on sustainability."

C4V completed a phase-one qualification study, where RecycLiCo's NMC811 (80% nickel, 10% manganese, and 10% cobalt oxide) precursor cathode materials, made from recycled and upcycled lithium-ion battery waste, was converted into proprietary cathode composition by C4V's supply chain partner, followed by cell production and performance evaluations by C4V.

As reported by C4V, the electrochemical and technical data achieved the benchmark specifications and performance.

Test results also indicated that the specific capacity and stability of the battery cell are acceptable and that C4V approves the material as qualified.

"We are pleased to achieve another milestone by having a third-party validate our recycled-upcycled battery material for use in new battery cells," said RecycLiCo CEO Zarko Meseldzija. "We have shown a closed loop for lithium-ion batteries and with our technology, we could enable battery manufacturers to complete all recycling and battery production on one site."

With the objective of using future recycled material for the gigafactory qualification process, RecycLico has shipped a second, larger batch of precursor cathode material to begin phase-two qualification testing, which should include production of multi-layer commercial size pouch and prismatic cells.