(Nikkei Asia, February 16, 2023)
Tie-up aims to create stable source of cobalt, nickel for EV supply chain
TOKYO — Japanese trading company Marubeni will partner with a U.S. recycler to extract rare metal compounds from discarded batteries, aiming to reduce a source of geopolitical risk in the electric-vehicle supply chain. Marubeni recently invested $50 million in Cirba Solutions, with plans to build a new recycling plant in the U.S. state of Ohio in fiscal 2025.
Nickel, cobalt and other metals crucial to battery production are mined in relatively few locations, making them a potentially vulnerable link in the EV supply chain. But sulfates containing these metals can be extracted from old batteries and fed back into production.
Cirba Solutions collects discarded batteries, along with battery manufacturing scrap, and crushes them into a powder called black mass. It sells the material to metal refiners in the U.S. and Canada. In 2021, Marubeni began tests with Cirba’s predecessor company and other partners on obtaining metal sulfates from powder extracted from used batteries. Since then, improvements have been made in removing impurities and other steps in the process.
Now the Japanese company is poised to launch a full-scale recycling business. The cobalt sulfate and other battery materials Marubeni plans to extract will be marketed to companies in the supply chain in cooperation with automakers. Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials also plans to enter this field.
As of 2021, about 70% of the world’s cobalt was produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Critics have called attention to the mining industry’s use of child labor as well as carbon dioxide emissions. Recycling has emerged as a way to reduce reliance on cobalt ore. Marubeni may eventually expand the battery recycling operations to Japan after developing them in the U.S., where EV sales have grown faster than in the Japanese market.
“This market has a giant potential for future growth because it is the quintessential idea behind the global sustainability concept” This remark is from the Right Energy staff.
