RECYCLE AND REUSE
Recycling Reduces Pressure
on Primary Metals Producers
E&MJ explores the potential for metals recycling to enhance traditional
mining business models
By Carly Leonida, European Editor
On September, 28, 2023, leaders from heart of key clean energy technologies, mit followed the publication of the IEA’s
50 countries came together for a first- such as wind turbines, electric vehicles inaugural Critical Minerals Market Re-
of-its-kind event hosted by the Interna- (EV) and solar panels. view in July 2023.
tional Energy Agency (IEA). The Critical The IEA has been asked by govern- The report showed that electric car
Minerals and Clean Energy Summit built ments around the world to make recom- sales increased by 60% in 2022, exceeding
upon the ministerial mandate given to mendations on options to diversify sup- 10 million units. Energy storage systems
the IEA in 2022 to further its work on plies of critical minerals and clean energy experienced more rapid growth, with ca-
critical minerals — the materials at the technology manufacturing, and the sum- pacity additions doubling in 2022. Solar PV
installations continue to shatter previous re-
cords, and wind power is set to resume its
upward march after two subdued years.
All of this activity has led to a signifi-
cant increase in demand for critical min-
erals. From 2017 to 2022, demand from
the energy sector was the main factor
behind a tripling in overall demand for
lithium, a 70% jump in demand for cobalt
and a 40% rise in demand for nickel.
Driven by rising demand and high
prices, the market size of key energy tran-
sition minerals (as defined by the IEA)
doubled over the past five years, reach-
ing $320 billion in 2022 (broadly similar to
the market size for iron-ore mining). As a
result, energy transition minerals, which
used to be a small segment of the mar-
ket, are now moving to center stage in the
mining and metals industry.
Expanding Metals Supply
Scope
Devising new strategies to help meet this
wave of demand was at the center of dis-
cussions among participants at the Critical
Minerals and Clean Energy Summit, and
six key action areas were identified to
help alleviate pressure on primary metals
recovery, including: accelerating progress
towards diversified minerals supplies; un-
locking the power of technology and recy-
cling; promoting transparency in the mar-
kets; enhancing the availability of reliable
information; creating incentives for sustain-
able and responsible production; strength-
ening efforts on international collaboration.
According to the United Nations, 61.3 million mt of e-waste will be produced globally in 2023 – more than “Participants underscored the impor-
the weight of the Great Wall of China. (Photo: Unsplash) tance of tapping the full potential of tech-
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RECYCLE AND REUSE
nology and recycling to alleviate potential Glencore said it has been working to loop battery supply chain. The company
strains on supply,” the IEA stated in its sum- establish regional platforms across the leverages its innovative Spoke & Hub
mary. “New technology can reduce energy world to localize battery raw material sup- Technologies to provide a safe, scalable,
and water requirements in extraction and ply chains within key regions in a scalable customer-centric solution to recycle differ-
processing, optimize extraction methods and sustainable manner. This would en- ent types of Li-ion batteries. Spoke & Hub
and product design and end-of-life pro- able a set of key partners (of which Li-Cy- Technologies are based on a hydrometal-
cesses to improve resource efficiency. The cle is one) to connect to these platforms. lurgical process that provides an environ-
IEA will also undertake an in-depth study According to the IEA’s 2021 landmark mentally friendly and cost-effective alter-
to examine effective approaches to recy- report “The role of critical minerals in native to pyrometallurgical processing.
cling covering all potential sources such as clean energy transitions,” although the “At our Spokes, or pre-processing
e-waste, industry scrap, end-of-life batter- volume of Li-ion batteries available for facilities, we recycle battery manufac-
ies, wind turbines and permanent magnets.” recycling or reuse today is modest and turing scrap and end-of-life batteries to
In its October issue, E&MJ explored largely dominated by batteries in waste produce black mass, a powder-like sub-
the recycling of mine waste, specifical- electronic products, the fast-paced stance which contains a number of valu-
ly tailings, in depth, but tailings are only growth of EV sales and the demand for able metals, including lithium, nickel and
one potential source of critical metals. For energy storage will alter this situation sig- cobalt. At our Hubs, or post-processing
some mining companies — mainly those nificantly by the end of the decade. facilities, we will process black mass to
with vertically integrated business models As the share of electric cars in the global produce battery-grade materials, includ-
— the recycling of various waste materials car stock grows from the 1% seen in 2021 ing lithium carbonate, nickel sulphate
has been part of their revenue streams for to the anticipated 50% in 2040, an influx of and cobalt sulphate,” said Li-Cycle in its
years. For instance, Boliden’s Rönnskär spent batteries is expected to arrive in the marketing materials.
copper smelter in northern Sweden began market, and this could pose waste manage- In September 2023, Li-Cycle and Glen-
recycling waste in the 1960s. Today, it’s ment challenges. For example, when all the core announced a two-phased approach
one of the world’s largest recyclers of met- electric cars sold in 2019 reach the end of to develop the Portovesme Hub project
al from electronic material (e-waste) with their lifetime, this would result in 500,000 mt in Sardinia, Italy. Phase 1 will process up
an annual capacity of 120,000 metric tons of unprocessed battery pack waste. Given to 11,000 mt of black mass annually and,
(mt), including circuit boards from comput- their seminal role in mineral and metal value subject to regulatory approvals and agree-
ers and mobile phones that are sourced chains, and their increasing degree of col- ments, is expected to start operations in
primarily from Europe. laboration with downstream players, mining the first half of 2024. Phase 1 project is
According to Boliden, over 50 million companies are well positioned to help tack- expected to produce up to 1,500 mt of lith-
mt of e-waste are produced globally each le this challenge. ium carbonate, as well as up to 3,000 mt
year, some of which ends up in landfill sites Through its strategic partnership with of nickel and 500 mt of cobalt per year.
where toxic chemicals can leach out over Li-Cycle, Glencore is seeking to combine Phase 2 is expected to be the final
time. e-waste can also find its way to de- primary and recycled battery raw mate- long-term plan and capacity for the facility,
veloping countries where informal e-waste rials to produce battery-grade end prod- and this will have an annual processing
processing can cause serious health and ucts. This will enable auto manufacturers capacity of 50,000 to 70,000 mt of black
pollution problems. Upgraded E-waste is to meet their EV ambitions while also mass, producing up to 16,500 mt of lith-
known as e-scrap, which is a source of meeting regulatory directives related to ium carbonate, 18,000 mt of nickel and
precious metals, such as gold and silver, battery raw materials. This will be facil- 2,250 mt of cobalt. The Portovesme Hub
and base metals, such as copper, and this itated through the localization of supply is designed to be able to process all forms
is what is processed at Rönnskär. chains and increasing recycled content of Li-ion based black mass, including lithi-
in battery raw materials over time. um iron phosphate (LFP) materials.
Preparing for End-of-Life “In Europe, Glencore will work to as- “The development of the Hub with
EV Battery Wave sess the feasibility of utilizing its exist- Li-Cycle at Glencore’s Portovesme site is
In a bid to increase their exposure to ing asset footprint with a view towards progressing well,” said Kunal Sinha, Global
critical metals and build greater circu- re-purposing some of our assets. This Head of Recycling for Glencore. “The proj-
larity into their business models, more will reduce the lead time for achieving in- ect, combined with our existing footprint in
and more mining companies have an- dustrial scale production of battery grade the primary supply, as well as recycling of
nounced plans to expand their scope of end products,” Glencore said in its press battery metals, is a core tenet of our am-
supply over the past 24 months. release. “Glencore will also explore, to- bition to become the circularity partner
In May 2022, Glencore, which has gether with other appropriate supply of choice with Li-Cycle for the European
been a producer, recycler and market- chain partners, the production of precur- battery and EV industry. Specifically, this
er of metals including nickel and cobalt sor cathode active material (pCAM) in multi-phase approach to the development
for years, and Li-Cycle Holdings Corp, a Europe and potentially North America.” of the Hub allows us to start to close the
global lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery resource loop for battery materials in Europe as ear-
recovery company, announced a strategic Glencore and Li-Cycle ly as the first half of 2024, while we work
partnership under which Li-Cycle would Partner for Portovesme towards designing and building Phase 2.”
become a preferred partner for Glencore Li-Cycle, which was established in 2016, Li-Cycle and Glencore anticipate
in the Li-ion battery recycling sector. is working to create a domestic closed- forming a 50/50 joint venture (JV) for the
www.e-mj.com NOVEMBER 2023 • E&MJ 37
RECYCLE AND REUSE
nology at its Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
facilities. With the current development
pathway, the ELYSIS joint venture be-
tween Rio Tinto and Alcoa aims to have
its technology available for installation
from 2024, and the production of larger
volumes of carbon-free aluminum ap-
proximately two years later.
DEScycle’s Environmentally
Friendly E-waste Solution
Recycling doesn’t just provide a means
to an end. In some cases, new metal
recovery technologies can also answer
mining companies’ primary extraction co-
nundrums too.
In October 2023, clean tech compa-
ny, DEScycle, announced that its novel
metals processing technology, which
is based on a class of chemistry called
Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES), had
Shredded e-waste being fed into the first step of Descycle’s lab pilot. (Photo: Descycle) achieved the milestone of Technology
Readiness Level 5 (TRL 5).
Portovesme Hub, which also contem- transaction reflects the partners’ shared Commissioned in August 2023, the
plates long-term financing from Glencore commitment to meeting the increasing de- lab pilot which resulted in the TRL 5 des-
to fund Li-Cycle’s share of the capital in- mand for low-carbon aluminum as a key ignation, represented the culmination of
vestment. For Phase 1, Li-Cycle will pro- material in the energy transition. an 18-month feasibility study with the
vide technical expertise and oversight, It added that: “The JV will enable UK-based Centre for Process Innovation
with Portovesme and other technical and Rio Tinto to provide a broader range of (CPI) and the beginning of work which
operational experts from the Glencore high-quality and low-carbon, primary, re- will support progression to TRL 7 and, in
group directing the build and operation. cycled, and blended aluminum products, the future, a commercial plant design.
The definitive feasibility study for Phase at a time when customers are looking for E&MJ spoke to Leo Howden, Man-
2 is underway and is scheduled to be solutions to lower their carbon footprint. aging Director of DEScycle, to find out
completed by mid-2024, while commis- The JV will also enhance Matalco’s current more. “The lab pilot was the last step of
sioning for the Phase 2 Portovesme Hub service offering to a wider array of custom- our feasibility study,” he said. “We’ve now
is slated for late 2026 to early 2027. ers, while securing access for low-carbon successfully run the whole DES e-waste
primary metal for its operations. Recycled process from start to finish several times
Scrap Aluminum Reduces aluminum is forecast to account for more at the 10- to 20-liter scale. The lab pilot
Rio’s Carbon Footprint than half of U.S. demand by 2028.” has demonstrated metal recovery rates
Scrap metal is another fast-growing Rio Tinto is a global leader in alumi- of greater than 99% for precious metals
source of critical metals. According to num, with a large-scale, vertically inte- such as gold, silver, palladium, and criti-
Transparency Market Research, sales grated business, including bauxite mines cal metals such as copper.”
of scrap metal recycling are expected to and alumina refineries as well as smelt- The process comprises a series of
total $78.1 billion by the end of 2031 (a ers. The Matalco JV continues Rio’s in- steps during which all metals are taken
CAGR of 6.1% from 2023). vestment in building its supply of low-car- into solution and then selectively recov-
In July 2023, Rio Tinto and Giampaolo bon aluminum in North America. Previous ered; the formulation can be tailored to tar-
Group, one of North America’s largest investments include $1.1 billion to ex- get different metals depending upon each
fully integrated metal management busi- pand the use of its AP60 technology at its business’ objectives. In e-waste, copper
nesses, announced the formation of a JV Arvida aluminum smelter in June 2023, and gold are the highest value and highest
to manufacture and market recycled alu- $29 million to establish new recycling ca- component metals, but other precious and
minum products. Under the agreement, pabilities at the Arvida smelter in August base metals can be recovered too.
Rio Tinto will acquire a 50% equity stake 2022, and $188 million to increase billet DEScycle is now working to identify a
in Giampaolo Group’s Matalco business production capability at the Alma smelter suitable site for the large-scale pilot which
— a producer of recycled aluminum billet in July 2022, all in the Saguenay-Lac- is likely to be near Teesside in northeast
and slab products — for $700 million. Saint-Jean region of Quebec. England. Design of the pilot plant is well
Matalco operates six facilities in the US Rio Tinto is also working with the underway with construction slated to be-
and one in Canada which have the capac- Governments of Canada and Quebec gin in Q2 2024. DEScycle already has
ity to produce approximately 900,000 mt/y towards a deployment of the ELYSIS an agreement in place with GAP Group,
of recycled aluminum. Rio Tinto said the zero-carbon aluminum smelting tech- a recycling company based near New-
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RECYCLE AND REUSE
castle, to construct the first commercial DES-based recycling uses biodegrad- tal-intensive, high-pressure acid leach
scale facility at its site in Gateshead once able, organic materials that work at low (HPAL) process used to recover metals
piloting is complete. temperatures and pressures. The DES such as nickel and cobalt, with a capi-
E-waste is the world’s fastest growing e-waste process uses significantly less en- tal-light DES-based process.
waste stream. According to the United ergy than current smelting technologies and “We’re actively working with some of
Nations, 8 kg of e-waste per person will be doesn’t produce any scope one CO2 or met- the world’s largest mining companies to
produced worldwide in 2023. This equates als emissions. The technology is also low see how DES can help reduce their scope
to around 61.3 million mt of e-waste pro- capital cost and scalable, which means that one and two emissions as well as en-
duced globally in just one year — more DES recycling facilities can be co-located hance their primary metals recovery,” said
than the weight of the Great Wall of China. with local existing recycling infrastructure. Howden. “This will have an impact on their
Only 17.4% of this will be properly collect- “This is a huge shift away from the profitability and potentially reduce their re-
ed, treated and recycled. The remaining aggregation model used at the moment liance on developing new mines to meet
50.6 million mt will likely be placed in land- where materials are shipped abroad to a increased demand for critical metals.”
fill, burned or illegally traded and treated, large smelter to be recycled,” said Howden. DEScycle has successfully invented a
or simply hoarded in households. This also expands the potential for re- replacement pathway for HPAL in nickel
“E-waste is a massive growth area cycling to be integrated into mining and laterite processing, and the company is
and it’s extremely valuable,” Howden told metals businesses. Currently, the only min- eyeing copper as another potential market.
E&MJ. “We’re seeing a lot of interest from ing companies that recycle are those that Can it be used to leach copper sulph-
industry, particularly upstream producers have vertically integrated supply chains, ides as well as oxides? asked E&MJ.
of electronic products who are waking up inclusive of metals refining. But with DES- “Yes we’ve achieved almost miracu-
to the environmental impact of their sup- cycle’s technology, this isn’t necessary. lous results of over 99% copper recov-
ply chains. There’s a lot of legislation now ery from copper sulphides, which is in-
around extended producer responsibility Solving Primary Metals credibly exciting,” Howden replied. “But
which means those companies are be- Recovery Challenges work is still at an early stage. We’ve also
coming more involved with recycling their E-waste recycling might be the beach done quite a lot of work on recovering
products at the end of life. As a result, head market for DES but, longer term, rare earths. Ultimately, DES is a platform
we’re seeing pushback on older recycling DEScycle is also looking at its potential technology that can be used to address
technologies, such as smelting, which can to enhance primary metals recovery. The lots of different challenges in the mining
be energy intensive and polluting.” aim is to replace the incumbent capi- and metals industry.”
www.e-mj.com NOVEMBER 2023 • E&MJ 39
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