Li-Cycle starts its German pre-processing operations

The Canadian recycling company Li-Cycle has announced it started operations at its first European pre-processing facility in Magdeburg in Germany. The plant has a capacity of 30,000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery scrap per year.

The company says it started the operation by using one of two main 10,000 tpa lines through which it can process full EV packs without discharging or dismantling. The second line will be operational by the end of 2023. There will also be a third line also with a 10,000 tpa capacity but this will mainly be dedicated to dry production scrap from battery factories.

The facility which is more than 20,000 square meters of which 10,000 is warehousing capacity, is Li-Cycle's fifth plant to be operational after 4 plants have opened in the US and Canada. Additional plants in Norway, France and in Ohio in the US are expected to be opened within the next year and the company is expected to have processing capacity of more than 80,000 tonnes.

The material processed in Germany will be shipped to Li-Cycle's hydrometallurgical facility in Rochester, New York where the material will be turned into various chemical products such as lithium carbonate, nickel and cobalt sulphate. From 2027 this will however change when the company's second material recovery plant is expected to open on Sardinia in Italy through a 50% joint venture with Glencore.