Primobius has reached an option and licensing agreement with Stelco Holdings to commercialize Primobius’s proprietary EV battery recycling and processing technologies in North America. Operations are expected to begin in 2023.

Germany-based Primobius is a joint venture of Neometals and the German engineering company SMS group to commercialize the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. Canada-based Stelco is a steelmaking company that supplies steel to automakers.

Primobius’s proprietary technologies include a two-step system of mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes that recover high-purity chemicals, including lithium, nickel and cobalt, from EV batteries.

In December of 2021, Primobius also opened a battery recycling plant in Hilchenbach, Germany, which the company expects to begin operations in the first quarter of 2022.

“We recognize the need to secure access to large volumes of future end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and the present need to recycle a significantly growing volume of end-of-life batteries and production scrap from lithium-ion cell production in the United States. The partnership presents the perfect opportunity for us to enter one of the world’s fastest growing cell-making markets,” said Primobius Advisory Board Member Dr. Hans Ferkel.

Source: SMS group