Li-Cycle will build a fourth commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility, to be located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
With the pace of deployment of new battery mega-factories exceeding initial expectations, Li-Cycle will construct an additional fourth Spoke in North America. The company previously had a base case plan for three North American Spokes (the Kingston, Ontario and Rochester, New York Spoke facilities are commercially operational; the Gilbert, Arizona Spoke facility is in advanced execution stages).
The southeastern United States is emerging as a critical region for the lithium-ion battery supply chain, as battery manufacturers and automotive OEMs establish operations in the region, which will lead to the generation of significant quantities of battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries available for recycling. Univar Solutions Inc. will be an anchor battery feed supply customer for the new facility, following on Li-Cycle's previously announced on-site partnership with Univar Solutions to provide waste management solutions for electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery manufacturing.
When completed, Li-Cycle's Spoke 4 facility will have an initial capacity of up to 5,000 tonnes of battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries per year, bringing Li-Cycle's total North American recycling capacity to 25,000 tonnes per year. The Tuscaloosa site is also being developed to accommodate a future, second 5,000 tonne processing line, which would increase capacity at the Tuscaloosa site to 10,000 tonnes per year, and Li-Cycle's total North American recycling capacity to 30,000 tonnes per year.
