Federal Government Moves to Ramp up Domestic Battery Recycling
By Anjali Joshi
As the United States pushes for greater adoption of EVs, concerns are mounting regarding the sector’s dependence on the limited supply of critical battery minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. China’s dominant role in processing those materials along with end-of-life disposal concerns are also encouraging the United States to focus more attention on battery recycling. Recent actions include funding announcements from the Department of Energy for battery recycling and new legislation to advance recycling of battery minerals. Along with these actions several recycling facilities are
moving forward.
Some noteworthy federal investments/fundings have been offered not only to battery recycling companies, but also universities and research groups in the past few months. On 16 November 2022, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) offered $74 million in funding to ten projects related to battery recycling and reuse through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second Life Applications programs. Following are the recipients of the total funding:
| Applicant | Federal Cost Share |
| American Battery Technology Company | $9,999,378 |
| Cirba Solutions | $7,424,242 |
| Element Energy | $7,888,476 |
| Michigan Technological University | $8,137,783 |
| Princeton NuEnergy | $10,000,000 |
| RePurpose Energy | $6,000,000 |
| Smartville Inc | $5,999,525 |
| Tennessee Technological University | $4,531,642 |
| UC San Diego | $10,000,000 |
| The University of Alabama | $4,000,000 |
The U.S. Congress has also passed an EV battery recycling bill. On 14 December 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the annual defense budget, which included an amendment to maximize reuse and recycling of end-of-life EV batteries in federal fleet vehicles. The bill is waiting to be signed into law by President Joe Biden. This amendment represents a copy of the Strategic EV Management Act, which previously passed the Senate on 14 September 2022 as a standalone bill. The stated intent of the bill is to bolster reuse and recycling of EV batteries while reducing the country’s dependence on international markets for critical battery materials and components.
The Act requires different federal agencies to collaborate with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, battery manufacturers (both incumbent and startups), battery recyclers, and research labs to create a strategic plan for the reuse and recycling of EV batteries. The Act also includes guidelines for the disposal of EV batteries that cannot be reused or recycled. It also requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to offer grants to companies involved in advancing recycling technologies and solutions. Finally, it requires DoD to create a policy targeted at increasing the volume of batteries it recycles through different processes such as pyroprocessing, hydroprocessing, direct cathode recycling or upcycling.
Market players across the EV battery value chain are also expanding their EV battery recycling capabilities in North America. Canadian battery recycling firm Li-Cycle already has two recycling plants in New York and Arizona. Its latest plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, came online in October 2022 and is expected to increase its processing capacity to 30,000 tons a year. LG Chem also recently announced it will invest $18.6 million in the battery recycling company Jae Young Tech which aims to establish a battery recycling joint venture in North America by the end of 2023.
Finally, Redwood Materials announced that it will build a factory to break down used EV batteries into basic metals and remanufacture these into cathode and anode components near Charleston, South Carolina. Redwood Materials expects to break ground on a new plant in its 600-acre site in Q1 2023 and have the factory up and running by the end of 2023.
Source: CEA Research
