Aqua Metals Pioneers US Lithium Battery Recycling, Scaling Up After Successful Pilot
Aqua Metals, a trailblazer in lithium battery recycling, has successfully concluded its pilot project in just eight months. The company is now poised to scale up its operations, aiming to process 75 tons of black mass annually and sell high-purity recycled materials to metals buyers by the third quarter.
The company's innovative approach, using advanced electro-hydrometallurgy, has made it the first fully operational lithium battery recycler in the US. Aqua Metals has demonstrated its capability to recover all valuable materials from spent lithium batteries, including cobalt, manganese dioxide, lithium hydroxide, nickel, and copper.
With a secured supply of over 3,000 tons of black mass, Aqua Metals is on track to reach commercial scale by 2024. The company is also planning to develop a five-acre clean metals recycling campus in Tahoe-Reno, with the capacity to process over 10,000 tons of black mass per annum. Aqua Metals expects its Phase 1 recycling facility to generate positive cash flow at current metals prices and projected processing costs at scale.
Aqua Metals has transitioned to 24/5 operations and is producing high-purity, saleable quantities of recycled materials. The company is not alone in its mission; Iondrive, another company planning to build a commercially scaled lithium battery recycler in the USA and beyond, is developing pilot projects in Australia, the US, and Europe. Aqua Metals' success in the US market could pave the way for similar initiatives worldwide.
