Battery Resourcers forms partnership with Honda to recycle lithium-ion batteries

Battery Resourcers, a lithium-ion battery recycling and manufacturing company based in Worcester, Massachusetts, has announced an agreement with American Honda Motor Co. to recycle Honda and Acura electric vehicle (EV) batteries. 

According to a news release from Battery Resourcers, the company offers a fundamentally new approach to lithium-ion battery manufacturing, starting with a mixed stream of used lithium-ion batteries and ending with the production of finished, battery-ready cathode active materials. With 97 percent metal recovery, Battery Resourcers currently produces nickel manganese cobalt- (NMC-) based cathode-active materials.

Honda’s batteries will initially be processed by the company’s recently expanded site in Worcester and later at a new commercial-scale plant expected to be operational in the spring of 2022. The new site will be capable of processing more than 20 million pounds of batteries.

“We are proud to work with sustainably minded companies like Honda to revolutionize the lithium-ion supply chain and build a more sustainable future,” says Mike O’Kronley, CEO of Battery Resourcers. “Our innovative, closed-loop recycling process addresses environmental and regulatory issues while unlocking the hidden value in spent lithium-ion batteries. As a result, we can provide safe, convenient and environmentally responsible recycling solutions at an affordable cost.”

The recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries is a significant challenge for carmakers and battery manufacturers. This is because millions of EVs are expected to hit the road in the coming years, and new regulations mandate the recycling of spent batteries and the use of recycled metals in new batteries. In the future, Battery Resourcers and Honda will also work together to improve recyclability and to reintegrate recycled material back into Honda's material supply chain.

Battery Resourcers says it is also engineering a novel process for graphite recovery and purification, which will enable it to return both the cathode and anode active materials back to manufacturers of new batteries.