U.S. Department of Energy grants $375M loan for lithium battery recycling plant

In an effort to meet the growing demand for lithium batters, the Department of Energy has agreed to provide a $375M loan to battery recycling company Li-Cycle.  The loan will be used to build a battery recycling plant in Rochester, New York.

The Rochester factory will collect discarded lithium batteries from Gilbert, Arizona, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and also across the border in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.  The batteries will then be transported to New York.

Li-Cycle anticipate being able to provide batteries for 203,000 electric vehicles per annum.

This announcement follows news that recycling firm Ecobat confirmed last Tuesday that it will build its first battery recycling plant in Casa Grande, Arizona.

In January,  the DOE Loan Programs Office also confirmed that it will provide a conditional $2 billion loan to Redwood Materials to build a battery recycling facility on the outskirts of Reno, Nevada.

Experts believe that recycling lithium is significantly less damaging than mining it from the ground as the mining process can cause damage to lakes and rivers.

In 2021, the United States government announced that they have set a target for 2030 in regard to electric vehicles.  By 2030, 50% of vehicles sold should be electric.

A DOE National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries shows the strategy for expanding lithium-battery manufacturing.