Recycling lithium ion batteries in North America: Timely arrivals at a party that’s just getting started

Electric vehicles are prompting the development of a new lithium ion battery recycling industry in North America. While most of the proposed plants are small in terms of tonnes, collectively these developments will come to represent the most significant change in nickel chemicals availability in North America. The region might not be as far down the LIB collection and recycling road as China, South Korea, Japan and, more recently, some European countries. But now there are more than a handful of interested parties coming together along the principal links in the chain to face up to what will inevitably be a steadily increasing pool of materials which can avoid the landfill.