Grant: Alliance Grants

Li-ion batteries are seen as the powerhouse for a future fossil-free society. However, their large-scale production to meet the ambitious climate goals globally and in Canada, is fraught with potential supply constraints of critical minerals such as lithium (Li), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), and graphite (C). To reduce the increasing risk of potential supply restrictions of critical minerals in the future resulting from a pandemic, extreme environmental conditions, or geopolitical issues; their urban mining is considered a viable solution. This project is aimed at establishing and optimizing various resource efficient circularity pathways for urban mines of critical minerals for batteries in Canada. The underlying objectives are to estimate the current and future size and quality of battery materials' urban mine in Canada; test new recycling technologies in laboratory, specifically vapo-metallurgical approaches to separate Ni and Co from black mass; perform technoeconomic assessment (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of existing and hypothetical resource circularity pathways; and, propose optimal pathways for resource circularity given their environmental and techno-economic feasibility. This project will develop, and test new recycling methods for environmentally feasible and techno-economically efficient recovery of battery materials from their urban mines. The project team will work in close collaboration with national and international, academic, and industrial partners, to run the laboratory trials, collect data from national and international mining and trade databases, and perform the environmental and techno-economic assessment. Enhanced resource recovery from urban mines will reduce dependency of the industrial sector on imports of critical metals, which will result in lower risk of supply disruptions and the associated implications for society. The project will allow for development of new business opportunities and jobs in Ontario and Canada in the technical and R&D fields of resource recovery and recycling.