Green Li-ion launches battery materials installation in Atoka
Green Li-ion announced an Atoka installation to turn battery black mass into new materials, with commercial output expected later in April and six planned jobs.
Atoka launch and commissioning
Green Li-ion announced a commercial-scale battery materials installation in Atoka, Oklahoma, on 11th April 2024. The unit sits inside an existing recycling facility. Its expected output is two metric tons of battery-grade precursor cathode active material, or pCAM, per day, with a planned fourfold capacity increase within a year. The site was in the final stages of calibration for pCAM and lithium carbonate, with commercial production expected later in April, according to Vice President of Operations Stephen Hayward.
The company planned six initial positions, potentially rising to 20 as production expanded; it did not disclose the plant investment. Black mass is an intermediate made from shredded battery scrap, which can be processed to recover nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese for new battery components. The Atoka project targets a processing stage that North American suppliers often undertake overseas, including in China, as manufacturers seek material produced in the United States.
Processing technology and customer options
Green Li-ion uses hydrometallurgical technology to convert recycled battery material directly into pCAM. The company says its process can yield that product in around 12 hours. The installation is designed to handle unsorted black mass from different lithium-ion battery chemistries. Green Li-ion describes its equipment as customizable, allowing the resulting materials to meet battery-cell producers’ specifications and customers’ desired output. The planned products include cathode precursor, lithium and anode materials.
Manufacturers and recyclers can use the technology through two arrangements. Green Li-ion presents the modular design as suitable for integration with existing manufacturing operations.
- A licensing agreement allows customers to install the equipment in their own facilities.
- Under a tolling agreement, customers send black mass to company-owned plants for conversion into battery materials.
Earlier financing and modular manufacturing
On 15th March 2023, Green Li-ion announced $20.5 million in pre-Series B funding led by Singapore-based decarbonization investor TRIREC. Banpu NEXT and Equinor Ventures also participated, alongside other investors. At that date, the company put its cumulative funding at approximately $36 million. Green Li-ion planned to use the new capital to scale manufacture of its recycling hardware, with a target of delivering 50 modular units per year.
Green Li-ion had developed and prototyped its technology in Singapore. In March 2023, its units were manufactured in Houston, Texas, and could be transported on flat-bed trucks in modules.
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