American Manganese Inc. (TSX-V:AMY, OTCQB:AMYZF), doing business as RecycLiCo Battery Materials, has announced encouraging results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) on the company's lithium-ion battery recycling-upcycling process.
Minviro, a London-based consultancy specializing in carrying out LCAs, completed the assessment and found that competing hydrometallurgical recycling methods will likely produce 166% more CO2 equivalent emissions when compared to the RecycLiCo process.
“To put this into context, such a variance is about the same as 17,000 tons of CO2 per GWh of NMC battery material recycled, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of emissions made by 3,700 vehicles in a year on average,” said RecycLiCo.
READ: American Manganese begins first stage testing of its RecycLiCo demonstration plant
Minviro also found that the RecycLiCo process, compared to the industry average for primary extraction methods, results in a 35% reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions for NMC precursor production and a 74% reduction for lithium hydroxide production.
"I am pleased to report that the LCA results confirm RecycLiCo's lower environmental impact to produce NMC precursor and lithium hydroxide, when compared to primary raw material extraction methods or competing hydrometallurgical recycling," Larry Reaugh, the company's president and CEO said in a statement. "To collectively achieve true decarbonization as an industry, we must not cut corners at any stage of the lithium-ion battery supply chain and should instead recognize the most efficient and environmentally friendly technologies as an industry benchmark."
An LCA is a standardized, scientific method for quantifying the direct and embodied environmental impacts associated with a particular product or process. By considering all material and energy inputs such as scope 1, 2 and 3 CO2 emissions. The LCA was conducted in accordance with ISO-14040:2006 and ISO-14044:2006 standards and a critical review was conducted on the LCA by independent experts. The LCA was carried out with a combination of data provided by RecycLiCo and public databases, the company said.
American Manganese, which is changing its name to RecycLiCo Battery Materials, is a battery materials company focused on recycling and upcycling lithium-ion battery waste. With minimal processing steps and over 99% extraction of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, the patented, closed-loop hydrometallurgical process creates valuable lithium-ion battery materials for direct integration into the re-manufacturing of new lithium-ion batteries.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com