The IRA and BIL funding that has enabled so much investment in the onshoring of the advanced battery supply chain focuses largely on the high capital investments required for sulfate, cathode and cell production. Often left by the wayside is the humble pretreatment recycler, but this is a critical stage in the supply chain that should not be underestimated.

Pretreatment recycler – what we do

Ecobat is a pretreatment recycler. This means that we collect and shred batteries, generating black mass as our end product. Without pretreatment recyclers, there would be no feedstock for the rest of the battery recycling value chain. Pretreatment recycling sounds simple, but it is a mire of regulations, operations and risk management. Many pretreatment recyclers struggle with some or all these aspects, so having an established recycling leader, such as Ecobat, responsible for your scrap is vital in ensuring you are getting the right value for your material while maintaining a responsible path for it.  

Risk management – proper disposal

A significant concern with the present, minimally regulated recycling industry is where does the scrap go once a pretreatment recycler receives it? There is no defined path, and this varies recycler by recycler. Some send “healthy” batteries for reuse in second life applications, typically this is done overseas, and these batteries end up in devices like power banks, e-cigarettes and other consumer products where battery capacity is neither regulated nor critical. However, this presents significant brand exposure for the scrap generator – if your battery scrap is involved in an incident, it can theoretically be traced back to the originator.

Another risk is wasting scrap batteries. While this is wasteful, some batteries pose a value-negative material source for recyclers. Responsible recyclers typically have to charge to receive these – this is common with LFP and LMO chemistries. Ecobat sends all black mass for recycling, to extract the lithium (at a minimum) from this product. We can provide certificates of recycling and evidence of their responsible disposal.

Value of recovering metals – monetary, ESG

It’s clear that the recycling industry economics are driven by the material recovery of critical metals – lithium, cobalt and nickel. But beyond this, many firms value the ESG benefits of sustainably recycling their end-of-life battery material. Being able to trace new battery source material to a recycled origin is of great importance to many stakeholders, and Ecobat is proud to be able to offer solutions to meet this requirement.

On-shoring plans and incentives for advanced batteries

As more and more funding, tariff and other economic factors are tied to country of origin for advanced battery materials, Ecobat’s pretreatment recycling offers a straightforward way of both allowing firms to meet recycling goals as well as being able to provide domestic nickel, cobalt and lithium credit. Pretreatment is a complex stage of the recycling industry, and Ecobat is a trusted partner to enable the onshore circular battery economy.