Lithium-ion battery recycling plant opens in Gilbert

PHOENIX – Recyclers of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles activated the power Tuesday at its Gilbert manufacturing plant, putting a charge in the East Valley tech corridor.

Li-Cycle’s facility opened near the Loop 202 Santan Freeway and Power Road. It’s the third such plant for the Canadian-based company in North America.

The Arizona spoke is expected to process up to 10,000 metric tons of end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap a year, Li-Cycle said in a press release.

Work at the 140,000-square-foot space will consist of processing full battery packs without taking them apart by hand. Li-Cycle said its special technology, debuting at the plant, made recycling the batteries for valuable critical metals known as “black mass” safe, sustainable and labor efficient.

“The launch of Li-Cycle’s innovative battery recycling facility bolsters Arizona’s already robust EV supply chain and sends a signal that Arizona is the place to be for electric batteries,” Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted:

The launch of @Li_Cycle’s innovative battery recycling facility bolsters Arizona’s already robust EV supply chain and sends a signal that Arizona is the place to be for electric batteries. Proud to see Li-Cycle’s facility up and operational. @azcommerce https://t.co/phLK2THyhg

— Doug Ducey (@DougDucey) May 17, 2022

The agreement on Arizona site was announced in April 2021. Li-Cycle said the Valley was strategically located close to Li-Cycle’s “existing battery supply network, as well as being at the nexus of where there will be continued growth in the quantity of lithium-ion batteries available for recycling.”

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