Lithion Recycling has closed the first tranche of a financing that could provide $125 million toward the company’s first lithium-ion battery cycling plant in Quebec. The Series A equity financing has closed with a group of investors led by IMM Investment Global and support by Fondaction and its LCC Fund.
The funds will be used to build and commission Lithion’s first commercial mechanical separation plant in Quebec, to open a technology centre to explore treatment of future battery chemistries, and detailed engineering in advance of construction of a hydrometallurgy plant.
Lithion aims to have at least 20 battery recycling plants built around the world in the next 15 years. The first pilot plant, which had a capacity of 200 tonnes per year, was built in Anjou, Que., a suburb of Montreal. Next comes a first generation commercial plant with a capacity of 2,000 tonnes per year, the equivalent of 4,000 electric car batteries. And by 2030, the company wants to have 10 plants in North American 10 plants in Europe, and 20 plants in Asia through licencing 10,000 tonne per year plants.
“This is a crucial moment in Lithion’s history,” said Lithion president and CEO Benoit Couture. “Lithion is deeply rooted in Quebec and will play a significant and crucial role in the future of the province’s battery and EV sectors.”
A coin cell rechargeable NMC battery using recycled lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt from American Manganese’s patent pending lithium-ion battery cathode material recycling process. Credit: American Manganese.
By deploying small-capacity plants, the company says transportation, especially of hazardous waste, is minimized.
The patented hydrometallurgical process that Lithion has developed makes battery recycling, cleaner, more efficient and cost-effective than conventional recycling smelters. It can be applied to all lithium-ion battery chemistries. The process recovers 95% of the battery components that can be recycled or returned to the manufacturers to make new batteries.
When it was formed in 2018, Lithion Recycling was a consortium of engineering firm Seneca, Centre d’etudes des procedes chimiques du Quebec, Call2Recycle, and Hydro Quebec. The company has enjoyed both federal and Quebec provincial investments and also created partnerships with Hyundai Canada, Nouveau Monde Graphite and Girardin Bus.
Lithium-ion battery for automobiles. Credit: Kynny via iStock.
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