Lead recycler Aqua Metals has established an Innovation Center to apply its know-how to lithium-ion battery recycling research and development and prototype system activities.
The Aqua Metals Innovation Centre is on the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRIC) where the company opened its first recycling facility, which suffered a fire in 2019.
Aqua Metals will apply its closed-loop hydrometallurgical and electrochemical recycling experience to lithium-ion battery recycling to meet growing demand for critical battery metals.
The company says early phase testing using its AquaRefining methodology has shown promise for plating the metals found in lithium-ion batteries such as cobalt, nickel, and copper.
Lithium and manganese will be recovered in other forms.
The Innovation Center aims to expand the development of breakthrough technologies for sustainable metal recycling that can deliver raw materials back into the manufacturing supply chain.
Aqua Metals filed a provisional patent earlier in 2021 for recovering metals from recycled lithium-ion batteries.
