Glencore and Li-Cycle Plan to Build Battery Recycling Hub in Italy

By Elena Vardon

Glencore and Li-Cycle Holdings on Tuesday said they are planning to build a new battery recycling hub in Italy.

The Anglo-Swiss commodity miner and trader and the Canada-based battery recycling upstart signed a letter of intent to develop a hub facility in Portovesme in Italy which would produce critical battery materials--including nickel, cobalt and lithium--from recycled battery content.

The company said the project would be the largest source of recycled battery-grade lithium in Europe.

A definitive feasibility study for the site will start within the next two months and finish mid-2024, they said.

They anticipate the creation of a joint venture to repurpose part of the existing Glencore metallurgical complex in Portovesme into the hub, with construction expected to start in late 2026 to early 2027 subject to a final investment decision by both parties.

The hub is expected to have a processing capacity of between 50,000 and 70,000 tons of black mass input per year once operational, which is the equivalent of up to 36 gigawatt hours of lithium-ion batteries, the companies added.

Write to Elena Vardon at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 09, 2023 06:55 ET (10:55 GMT)

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