• Canadian lithium-ion battery producer and recycler Li-Cycle has announced opening its third recycling facility in Gilbert, Arizona.

<ul><li>The 140,000 sq ft facility has the capacity to process up to 10,000 tonnes of battery manufacturing scrap and used batteries. The facility is reportedly the first of Li-Cycle’s facilities to use its proprietary technology, which will directly process electric vehicle (EV) battery packs without having to dismantle them manually. Black mass produced in the facility will be sent for processing to the company’s Rochester facility .</ul>

• Arizona was selected as the location given its proximity to Li-Cycle’s battery and manufacturing scrap supply network in the Southwestern US and also due to Arizona being positioned as a key part of the EV supply chain in the US.

• The company also reports that its fourth facility in Alabama is planned to open in 3Q 2022. Li-Cycle expects a total capacity of 30,000 tons per annum when its Arizona and Alabama facilities become operational and targets an overall 65,000 tons per annum capacity by 2023 across all of its facilities in North America and Europe.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: Li-cycle initially announced plans for the Arizona facility in April 2021 and the facility is now open, expecting to be fully operational by 2023. Besides this and the Alabama plant, the company has plans for two more facilities to become operational by 2023. This includes the Warren, Ohio (15,000 tons per year, Q1 2023) and Southern Norway (10,000 tons per year, Q1 2023) plants, which the company is constructing in partnership with Ultium Cells LLC and Eco Stor, respectively. With a total capacity of 65,000 tons by 2023, Li-Cycle will be ahead of players such as Lithion Recycling (~2,000 tons by 2023), Ace Green (~30,000 tons per year by 2025), and BritishVolt (~10,000 tons by 2023).</ul>