Lithium Australia NL's (ASX:LIT) battery recycling division Envirostream Australia Pty Ltd, which is based in Melbourne, has been classified as an essential service and will continue to operate during the city's COVID-19 stage-4 lockdown.
The operation will continue under the guidelines recently released by the Victorian State Government during the stage-4 lockdown.
Envirostream has been included in the list of ‘Electricity, gas, water and waste services’ considered important infrastructure and classified as an essential service.
The battery recycling division previously put in place strict COVID-19 protections for the benefit of its employees and the general community and continues to play a vital role in preventing toxic battery waste from entering landfill and groundwater systems.
Battery collection initiatives growing
During the June quarter, Envirostream achieved design processing throughput at a time of significantly strengthened commodity prices and is commissioning copper and aluminium recovery circuits at a time of improving copper and aluminium prices.
Processing trials for lithium-ion batteries are ongoing, with several electric vehicle and energy storage system producers involved.
In addition, Envirostream is growing its battery collection initiatives to strengthen revenue and is investigating the use of products from spent alkaline batteries as a micronutrient additive for fertiliser.
Field trials have started in Western Australia and Envirostream is in discussions with leading fertiliser manufacturers regarding supply of its micronutrient blend.