The US-based critical battery materials company American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) was given an industry award for recycling technology solution of the year.
This was due to its work in internally developed advancements in battery recycling technology, which can recover high quality battery critical materials.
The CleanTech breakthrough award is stated to be a comprehensive analysis of organisations and its technology, as well as its solutions for clean technology.
ABTC was nominated for its contributions to creating a circular supply chain for critical battery materials.
The firm’s success has been through its ‘demanufacturing’ recycling process, which differs to the traditional methods of smelting and shredding, it said.
ABTC combines this process with selective hydrometallurgical processing, and claim it is feedstock agnostic.
As a two-phase approach, it is stated to allow for:
- A system that can process various lithium-ion battery sizes and chemistries
- The high recovery rates of critical materials
- Sustainable practices like reducing waste, air pollution and use of natural resources compared to conventional methods.
Recycled materials such as copper, aluminium, steel, lithium intermediate, and black mass are produced in the first phase of the process, it said.
In the second phase, material is refined further into battery-grade nickel sulphate, cobalt sulphate, manganese sulphate, and lithium hydroxide.
The company has been said to have made achievements in the commercialisation of its battery recycling technology.
This includes collaborating with other industry players to help form the first battery metals supply chain in North America in 2023.
This was a collaboration involving the cathode active material (CAM) manufacturer BASF, and the US Advanced Battery Materials Consortium.
