Heavy-Duty Battery Recycling Pilot Unites Li-Cycle And New Flyer

Li-Cycle Corp., North America’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling company, successfully completed a battery recycling pilot with New Flyer Industries, one of the world’s leading bus manufacturers.

According to Waste 360, New Flyer provided Li-Cycle with 45 end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, which will be processed into a so-called “black mass,” a mixture of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper which can be further processed and returned into the economy.

"We are thrilled to team up with New Flyer to help spearhead the closed-loop resource recovery of electric bus batteries," said Li-Cycle Chief Commercial Officer Kunal Phalpher. "As of 2019, approximately 425,000 of the world's buses are electric. By recycling thousands of pounds of lithium-ion batteries, we're serving the dual purpose of reducing hazardous waste, while recovering critical materials so they can be reintroduced into the supply chain.“

Lithium-ion batteries have always been impractical to recycle, creating hazardous waste and the loss of valuable refined metals. 

The Spoke & Hub technology developed by Li-Cycle has an unparalleled recovery rate of ≥95% of all materials. This technology not only diverts li-ion batteries front he landfills but provides for their re-use in the battery supply chain.

Both concepts are essential for achieving an environmentally-friendly vision of vehicle electrification.