Glencore, a multinational commodity trading and mining company based out of Switzerland, has announced a new $200 million investment into lithium-ion battery recycling company Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. Moving forward, Glencore will designate Li-Cycle as its preferred lithium-ion battery recycling partner. Both companies hold key business partnerships with GM as related to the automaker’s electric vehicle business.
To note, Li-Cycle has engaged in a partnership with GM at the Ultium Cells battery production campus currently under construction in Warren, Ohio, where the battery recycling company will operate a lithium-ion battery cell recycling plant adjacent to the GM facility. Meanwhile, Glencore supplies GM with cobalt, a material required for the production of the automaker’s EV battery systems.
Now, Li-Cycle is poised to receive a substantial $200 million investment from Glencore, which will improve its cash position and fund ongoing operations, as well as cover the costs for construction on a series of projects. The partnership will also include supply agreements for a variety of different materials, including shredded battery material, also known as black mass. Meanwhile, Glencore will receive battery-grade materials and other by-products from Li-Cycle.
“We are excited to announce this new strategic partnership with Li-Cycle,” said Head of Recycling at Glencore, Kunal Sinha. “We both believe that battery recycling will form a key part of the energy transition. Our bold aim is to help support the creation of a genuinely circular economy that supplies recycled materials and minerals back into the battery supply chain.”
Li-Cycle has developed a method of breaking down batteries at the end of their lifecycle and extracting the metals contained within for reuse. The company is currently working to expand its North American recycling network, with construction of several new battery shredding sites now under way, including a new hub located in Rochester, New York.
The new strategic investment deal between Glencore and Li-Cycle is expected to close in Q3 of 2022, but is still subject to several conditions.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM business news, GM technology news, GM electric vehicle news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Caps please why are you yelling? First people complain that batteries won’t be recycled then when a company comes along to recycle batteries people are still not happy! Keep on using ICE generators and cars for the next twenty years… Who cares pollute the world the USA can be a leader in clean energy one day unlike China that uses so much coal and oil that they have smog in their country. The problem in this country is if theres no money in it it won’t happen what about water hydro power, wind turbine fans, solar panels… To help supplement coal and oil electric plants… But then I will be told oh no that won’t work ICE forever!
None of this is true. Just read the first comment. This is what all the trolls are saying at this site. -Ultium batteries are full of precious metals, and can’t be and won’t be re-cycled, ever! And go Brandon.
Products using Congolese cobalt, like the lithium-ion batteries used in EVs and energy storage, have escaped those kinds of enforcement actions. Advocates say that’s because while the conditions in many Congolese cobalt mines are brutal — featuring low pay, long hours, harsh conditions and, sometimes, abuse from superiors — they fail to meet the standard for forced labor. That’s a key legal distinction that can prompt abrupt seizures by customs guards and other tough measures.
Hey! You are describing the place that I work at!