Battery processors lay out latest moves

A battery recycling company goes public, North American collection numbers are released, and a lead-acid battery technology company moves into the lithium-ion realm. Those announcements were made around National Battery Day today.

The following is a roundup of recent actions in the sector.

Going public: Li-Cycle Corp., which processes scrap batteries from electronics and other sources, will become a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Headquartered in Toronto, Li-Cycle was acquired by a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Carnelian Energy Capital, which is based in Houston. Li-Cycle, which operates a hub-and-spoke model for battery processing, recently opened a new facility in Rochester, N.Y.

Battery collection milestone: Battery stewardship group Call2Recycle facilitated the collection of 8.4 million pounds of batteries in the U.S. in 2020, up 11% from 2019. The 2020 number was a record for the group, which has overseen collection of used batteries for 26 years. Call2Recycle reported that COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders impacted collection of used rechargeable batteries, driving down the weight collected by 10% in 2020, but that decrease was more than made up for by collection of single-use batteries. Meanwhile, Call2Recycle’s Canadian arm reported 4.1 million kilograms (over 9 million pounds) collected in Canada in 2020, also a record high amount. 

Technology provider investment: Aqua Metals, a lead-acid battery technology company, is moving into the lithium-ion battery recycling business. The publicly traded company, based in McCarran, Nev., committed to investing $2 million in Aqua Metals shares to purchase a 10% stake in LINICO Corporation (LiNiCo). Aqua Metals uses a hydrometallurgical recycling technology.

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