We hear from Aqua Metals, a company with a novel lithium-ion battery recycling technology it claims is cheaper and more sustainable to commercialise than conventional methods, discussing its tech, the energy storage market and fluctuating metals prices.

Li-Cycle is exploring “strategic alternatives” after pausing work on its main recycling facility in New York following soaring project costs while industry peer AquaMetals claims to Energy-Storage.news that its facility is 60% cheaper to build.

The stationary energy storage system (ESS) industry will be a significant source of lithium-ion batteries that can be recycled and reused, the head of Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum’s battery business line has said.

Equity investors have already committed more than US$300 million to lithium battery recycler Li-Cycle’s plan to go publicly-listed through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger.

A lithium-ion battery recycling plant is under construction in Norway, focusing initially on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, but the CEO of the company behind it has said that it will also be capable of processing batteries from stationary energy storage systems (ESS).

It will be in the interests of more or less everybody involved in the “broader lithium-ion battery supply chain” to establish effective recycling ecosystems, according to an analyst with IHS Markit.

A new lithium battery recycling facility, established by operator Li-Cycle on a commercial basis at the well-known Eastman Business Park in New York State, answers both a growing need and an opportunity in an “unprecedented phase” of deployment, the company has said.

Canada-headquartered start-up Li-Cycle has claimed a victory in commercialising its lithium battery recycling processes, with a shipment sent to a customer just before the end of last year.