The U.S. Department of Energy is making $192 million available for battery recycling advancements and the launch of a battery research and development consortium.
The U.S. EPA recently clarified that lithium-ion batteries should be treated as hazardous waste, but did not yet change current recycling rules and regulations.
Lithium button cell batteries sparked a small fire at BlueSky Solutions, but an official at the North Carolina e-scrap recycler said workflow changes have been made to prevent future incidents.
As demand for electric vehicles declines, prices for lithium, cobalt and copper are sliding down, potentially putting lithium-ion battery recyclers in a tight spot.
In recent weeks, Li-Cycle received federal funding for a facility, AquaMetals announced a technology breakthrough and Ecobat shared its plans to build a facility in Arizona.
Over the past several years, a handful of Oregon counties decided to switch to curbside battery collection to avoid fires. Universal Recycling Technologies has been processing some of the collected tonnage.