Envirostream, an owned subsidiary of Lithium Australia has announced that it expects to begin regular recycling of end-of-life battery packs from electric vehicles in coming weeks.
Envirostream will become a first mover in the recycling of end-of-life electric vehicles batteries in Australia.
Envirostream has successfully conducted a series of recycling trials on six different types of electric vehicles (EV) battery packs at its mixed-battery recycling facilities in Melbourne.
The trials, all of which were conducted without incident, were intended to document the complete process of EV battery recycling, from transport, handling and discharge through to disassembly and materials recovery.
Envirostream’s report on the trials, which included details of safety procedures, transport, and environmental assessments, showed that Envirostream can process these end-of-life (EOL) battery packs safely.
Under the terms of the non-exclusive battery recycling agreements with the two Suppliers, Envirostream will be responsible for the transport of these battery packs to its recycling facility, as well as protection of intellectual property, the discharge of any residual battery energy and pack disassembly and recycling.
Transport of batteries is expected to come from capital city’s around Australia and Brunei to its Melbourne facilities.
Neither agreement is considered material agreement due to the volumes and no significant costs are being borne by the Company.
The agreements have an indefinite term but can be terminated by the Supplier on between zero and 60 days notice.
Neither supplier are expected to rank in Envirostream’s top ten suppliers of batteries by volume this financial year.
Whilst there are no set volumes under either agreement the significance of these agreements are that Envirostream becomes a first mover in the recycling of EOL EV batteries in Australia.
“Envirostream expects to begin recycling a regular small volume of EOL EV battery packs over the next few weeks. Envirostream will continue activity marketing this service to other Australian and international EV suppliers and manufacturers,” the company said in an announcement.
Worldwide, numbers of spent lithium-ion batteries, including EV battery packs, are expected to grow rapidly, underpinning Envirostream’s business model.
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