General Motors and LG Energy Solution will add battery recycling to their Ohio battery-cell plant campus in 2023, the companies said Thursday. Battery recycling company Li-Cycle plans to open a recycling center near the Ultium battery-cell plant, centralizing a crucial piece of the electric vehicle supply chain.
Ultium Cells, a joint venture for battery development that GM and LG Energy Solutions formed in 2019, will build the recycling center on the site of its battery cell plant in Warren, Ohio. The Ultium plant is under construction, with production expected to begin in August.
Li-Cycle will install and operate its proprietary technology and equipment at the recycling plant after construction is complete, Li-Cycle and Ultium Cells said in a statement Thursday.
As automakers and battery manufacturers scale EV and battery production, battery recycling will become an essential part of the EV supply chain. Recycling shrinks the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing, and building batteries with recycled materials, rather than virgin materials, reduces the cost. Today, used-battery volume is too low to create significant recycling demand, but that will change as automakers launch more EVs. GM plans to launch 30 EVs globally by mid-decade and aims to convert its entire lineup to EVs by 2035.
"Our collaboration with Li-Cycle is an instrumental step in improving the sustainability of our components and manufacturing processes. This facility is another bold step forward in our sustainability journey here at Ultium Cells," Kevin Kerr, Ultium Cells' Ohio plant director, said in a statement.