Li-Cycle, North America's largest lithium-ion battery recycling company, has been named a winner of a 2021 BIG Innovation Award presented by the Business Intelligence Group.
"More than ever, the global society relies on innovation to help progress humanity and make our lives more productive, healthy and comfortable," said Maria Jimenez, chief operating officer of the Business Intelligence Group. "We are thrilled to be honouring Li-Cycle as they are one of the organizations leading this charge and helping humanity progress."
From across the globe, numerous organizations submitted their recent innovations for consideration in the BIG Innovation Awards. Nominations were then judged by a select group of business leaders and executives who volunteer their time and expertise to score submissions.
"It's very exciting to have Li-Cycle's Spoke & Hub Technology recognized, and to receive this 2021 BIG Innovation Award," said Li-Cycle CEO Ajay Kochhar. "This is an award that highlights the value in our solution toward making end-of-life batteries a resource and not a waste - we're honoured to be recognized for that. Our goal is to keep working to achieve a truly closed-loop system within the lithium-ion battery supply chain."
Li-Cycle is on a mission to leverage its innovative solutions to address an emerging and urgent global challenge. Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are increasingly powering the world in industrial energy storage, automotive, and consumer electronic applications. The world needs improved technology and supply chain innovations to better recycle these batteries, while also meeting the rapidly growing demand for critical, finite battery materials.
According to the Circular Energy Storage's (CES) recent studies, over 2 million tonnes per year of lithium-ion batteries are forecasted to reach their end-of-life globally by 2030. By 2040, an estimated 559 million electric vehicles will be on the road worldwide. The capacity of global lithium-ion battery energy storage installations is projected to skyrocket over 50 times during that same period. Given this significant growth in the lithium-ion battery market, safe and sustainable solutions are required for the end-of-life of these batteries.
Li-Cycle's Spoke & Hub Technologies recycles all types of lithium-ion batteries, with a recovery rate of ≥95 percent of all battery-grade materials found in Li-ion batteries, including lithium, cobalt, and nickel.
The company was also named to the World Circular Economy Forum's list of Circular Economy Solutions Inspiring the World, a 2020 and 2021 Global Cleantech 100 Company by the Cleantech Group and a finalist in the in the 10th Annual BusinessGreen Leaders Awards.