ACE Green Recycling has signed a research agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for lithium-ion battery recycling

ACE Green Recycling (ACE) and the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to further develop and optimise ACE’s environmentally friendly and low-cost lithium-ion battery recycling technology for graphite, lithium-iron phosphate (LFP), and other cathode active materials recycling. This collaboration advances DOE’s significant commitment to and investments in the development of environmentally friendly, cost-effective lithium-ion battery recycling in the United States.

NREL is a DOE national laboratory in Golden, Colorado, that focuses on renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is devoted to the research and deployment of important advances in battery recycling technology as part of this objective. The volume of LFP battery-powered electric vehicles is expected to increase dramatically in the next years, with major automakers such as Tesla and Ford beginning to migrate to LFP from nickel and cobalt-based batteries due to cheaper costs.

“Current hydrometallurgical recycling methods focus on extracting high-value materials from LFP batteries, such as lithium and copper,” stated Andrew Colclasure, research scientist at NREL. “We must demonstrate efficient processes that recycle low-value materials such as graphite and iron-phosphate into commercially viable products to encourage a more holistic approach to recycling.” We are excited to collaborate with our industry partners to promote low-cost recycling technology that will make the process more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.”