Lithium-ion battery recycler proposes Pinal County facility
Heritage Battery Recycling, an affiliate of Cirba Solutions, plans to construct a lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Eloy.
The Eloy facility will process lithium-ion end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap, with additional services including disassembly, sorting, warehousing, and diagnostic testing. The finished product will provide battery-grade salts for new cathode and battery manufacturing, such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium.
“The lithium-ion battery market is expected to grow exponentially over the next several years, with a projected market size approaching $25 billion by 2028,” said David Klanecky, president and CEO of Cirba Solutions said in a statement.
Located in Pinal County, the existing building will be expanded to 75,000 square feet and will support 75 workers and an estimated 110 permanent employees, the company said. The facility is expected to be in operation by mid-2023. A company announcement didn’t say the exact location where the new facility would be located in Eloy.
Cirba Solutions already has a battery recycling facility in Mesa.
“The investment and new jobs fit nicely into Eloy’s ongoing plan to attract quality employers to our community,” Eloy Mayor Micah Powell said in a statement.
Cirba’s aim is to “close the critical materials supply gap, while also increasing “access to recycled content for batteries” as demand for electric vehicles and lithium-ion battery manufacturing increases.
By 2050, recycled minerals will account for nearly 50% of cobalt, 25% of lithium, and 40% of nickel produced in U.S. EV batteries, according to Resources, Conservation, and Recycling.
“This new EV battery recycling facility bolsters Arizona’s vibrant battery and electric vehicle supply chain and furthers Arizona’s reputation as an epicenter for lithium batteries,” Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, said in a statement.
Canada-based Li-Cycle Corp., a lithium-ion electric vehicle battery recycler, opened a facility in Gilbert in May, which the company said effectively doubles the company’s recycling capacity. The facility processes 10,000 metric tons (22.04 million pounds) of batteries and battery manufacturing scrap per year. The facility also can process full electric vehicle battery packs without dismantling.
The Valley has become a popular location for electric vehicle manufacturing. ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. has an assembly plant in Mesa, and both Nikola Corp. and Lucid Motors have large-scale manufacturing operations in Pinal County.