The Ecocycle Group of companies announce the largest and most advanced lithium battery recycling plant in Australia to commence operation in late 2025.
Eco Batt is investing about $30 million to build a lithium (Li-ion) battery recycling plant, creating a total processing precinct for batteries at the Ecocycle Group’s head office in Campbellfield, Victoria.
Using cutting edge technology, proven to process more than 25,000 tonnes of batteries per year, the plant will provide an unmatched sustainable solution to Australia’s anticipated lithium battery waste streams for the next decade, according to Group Managing Director Doug Rowe.
The ambitious development will provide a state-of-the-art solution to Australia, New Zealand and the neighbouring Pacific Islands battery waste streams and recover up to 98 per cent of the active materials from lithium batteries.
To ensure a world class solution with the highest level of environmental compliance, Eco Batt is appointing German company URT Umwelt- und Recyclingtechnik which has built and commissioned numerous large lithium battery recycling plants around the world.
“One of the key factors in battery recycling is safety, both for the workers and the environment,” Doug says. “URT’s plant technology incorporates advanced safety measures while implementing standards not previously seen or used in Australia.”
The plant is designed to prevent the release of solvents by distilling them and capturing the spent electrolyte for recycling.
The off-gases and exhaust air are collected throughout the process and treated via a number of scrubbers, carbon absorption and finally a large, high-temperature treatment point for ensuring all toxic and volatile organic compounds and fluorides are handled to the highest environmental regulations.
“Australia as yet doesn’t understand or appreciate the significance of protecting staff and the environment from the off-gases being released from processing lithium batteries,” Doug says.
URT Recyclingtechnik has established itself as a global leader in lithium battery recycling, with completed plants and projects in progress on four continents, including recent projects for Polish recycler Elemental Strategic Metals and Asend Element in America.
The company’s turnkey recycling plants are built to the requirements of customers. Having a greenfield site gives Eco Batt the ability to tailor the plant to be as efficient and streamlined as possible. The specification of the proposed Victorian plant was chosen after Doug visited more than 40 battery recycling facilities internationally in recent years.
Doug says that with URT’s expertise, comprehensive services, and commitment to environmental responsibility, URT and Eco Batt are committed to work together to build a showcase plant for Australia that keeps lithium batteries out of the wrong waste streams and into a plant, purpose-built to handle them correctly.
This new urban mining facility will produce green metals for reuse in industry. The recovered black mass will be refined to recover the lithium, graphite, cobalt, and nickel, while the steel, stainless-steel, copper, aluminium and circuit boards will be individually separated as part of this unique recycling process.
“We have the ability to batch process the varying chemistries we are seeing in lithium batteries, allowing us to keep that black mass separated and sending the various grades to those offering the best treatment outcomes,” Doug says.
Eco Batt has a national collection network with more than 7000 company-owned collection cabinets at retail, supermarket, and hardware stores.
Specialised, lockable, galvanised, dangerous goods (DG)-approved bulk battery collection bins are provided to industry and located at many local government transfer stations, materials recycling facilities and landfill to underpin the success of the new recycling plant. The feedstock will be collected nationally with operations already established in every state using specially equipped DG-approved battery transport vehicles.
“Lithium batteries are now ubiquitous in every sector of the economy, society and everyday life and pose elevated risks at end-of-life to the environment while containing critical resources needed for a circular economy,” Doug says.
“They need to be responsibly recycled. In the midst of rising demand for electric vehicles and renewable power, and an explosion in battery development: batteries will play a key role in the transition to achieve Australia’s climate change targets and so will leadership in advanced recycling technology.
“The establishment of Australia’s largest lithium battery processing and recycling plant marks a significant step towards a greener future. By effectively managing end-of-life batteries, recycling them responsibly and recovering critical resources, Eco Batt is contributing to the transition to a sustainable and circular economy.”
Doug says Australia has a unique opportunity to contribute to global goals and to increase the use of recycled materials in new battery manufacturing. By investing in sustainable recycling solutions, Australia can not only minimise environmental degradation caused by lithium batteries but also preserve critical resources for future generations.
“We have a responsibility to the environment and to respond to climate change with best efforts for the conservation of resources. This plant will do just that,” he says.
The market for energy storage, e-mobility, and lithium batteries across such a vast range is rising in Australia and globally overall. In October 2023, the Department of Treasury and Finance Victoria reported 8.4 per cent of all new vehicles sold in the past 12 months were electric vehicles – more than double compared to sales a year earlier and representative of the national trend.
Doug says increased adoption of domestic and commercial energy storage systems, micro mobility, battery-operated equipment, and all other e-waste streams add to the demand for lithium battery waste recycling.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) projects lithium-ion battery waste is growing by 20 per cent per year and could exceed 100,000 tonnes by 2036. If the projection is correct, Australia’s big battery energy storage capacity will have increased 20-fold since 2021 by 2030.
Australian homes with battery storage devices exceed 100,000 dwellings with an energy capacity that is almost twice the size of Australia’s largest utility battery, Victoria’s Big Battery.
“Australia is quickly becoming a global leader in energy storage and an early adopter of big batteries to reduce emissions by 2030,” Doug says. “The battery recycling industry needs to be ready to deal with the unavoidable battery waste at end-of-life. Eco Batt is leading the way.
“The Federal Government has set an ambitious target to transition to renewable energy and elevate recycling for all wastes generated to 80 per cent nationally by 2030 from an average of 63 per cent currently. If by 2030 we are seeing an increase in the lithium batteries coming to market for recycling, we are committed to installing a sister plant the same size at our Queensland facility.
“This plant is a major investment in this recycling industry and while we understand the challenges, the risks, and the low return on investment, we can’t just keep doing what we know is not working. Lithium batteries are not going away and need to be recycled properly.”
There is almost daily media coverage of lithium battery fires in trucks, kerbside collections, material recovery facilities, landfill, and metal recycling yards around Australia. Doug says the cost to these industries is huge and insurance premiums prohibitive. Industry needs to work together to get lithium batteries into the correct recycling stream and the right collection containers with the right trucks.
The hazardous nature of large format lithium batteries, which retain residual energy even at disposal, pose serious risks if not handled correctly.
A dedicated battery discharge process for larger format battery assemblies will accompany the new Victorian recycling process. The power generated from discharging will go into Eco Batt’s large battery storage container, made from recycled lithium batteries that still have a useful second life. The battery storage container stores the discharged power from the lithium batteries ready for final processing and is used on site to power the handling, sorting, and processing of batteries that are ready for recycling.
“With industry leadership and a dedication to safety and environmental responsibility, Eco Batt is shaping lithium battery recycling in Australia,” Doug says. “Paving the way for a greener, more sustainable world.”
For more information, visit: www.ecobatt.net
