Li-Cycle, a Canadian lithium-ion battery manufacturer and recycler, has announced the commencement of operations at the company’s new lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The Alabama Spoke is a 220,000+ sq ft facility that includes 120,000 sq ft of warehousing capacity and is the fourth Spoke in the company’s “Spoke and Hub network”. The facility has the same design as the Arizona Spoke and will utilize the company’s patented recycling technology to convert electric vehicle (EV) battery packs into a black mass. The facility can process up to 10,000 tons of lithium-ion battery materials per year, with the option of expanding it in the future.

With this facility, Li-Cycle has a total lithium-ion battery processing capacity of 30,000 tons per year across four operating spokes in North America (Canada, New York, Arizona, and Alabama). The company plans to achieve a total lithium-ion battery processing capacity of 65,000 tons per year across all of its facilities in North America and Europe by the end of 2023.

Analyst QuickTake: Li-cycle initially announced plans for the Alabama facility in September 2021 expecting to open in mid-2022 but has commenced operations only now. Besides this, the company has plans for three 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, and Germany (1H 2023). 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).