New Lancaster, Ohio Site
Headquartered in North Carolina, Cirba Solutions, a leader in battery materials and management, has recently increased its lithium-ion processing operations to extend its reach to Lancaster, Ohio.
The Department of Energy (DOE) newly granted $82 million in funding towards a $200 million expansion of an industry-leading circular battery supply chain. Set to begin in October 2022 and continue through November, this investment will help propel cost-effective lithium-ion battery processing and secure critical material supplies, the firm explains.
Last October, Cirba Solutions revealed the company’s intentions to broaden its business presence in Lancaster. And, as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Cirba Solutions received the funds through the US Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) grant program.
With a total of more than $7 billion already invested in its first phase, the new bill has allocated specific funding to the battery supply chain to encourage domestic production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and electrical grid operations.
Cutting Edge Technology
As part of its expansion, Cirba Solutions will be implementing a new hydrometallurgical system for recycling end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and gigafactory scrap to generate battery-grade metal salts.
Cirba Solutions has announced its pioneering use of cutting-edge technology to obtain key metals, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, from widely used lithium-ion batteries. This will supply domestic producers of precursor and cathode active materials with the raw materials which are currently in demand.
“With Lancaster’s long history of manufacturing and recycling expertise, the expansion of this Cirba Solutions facility will be a tremendous support to the sustainable battery supply chain centered right here in America,” Jennifer Granholm, the Secretary of Energy stated. “The investment in this expansion, including funding awarded from the president’s Investing in America Agenda, will support this facility in extracting enough battery-grade critical minerals to power 200,000 new electric vehicles per year and will create 150 good-paying jobs that will be in demand for decades to come.”
“This investment is crucial to the lithium-ion battery industry as demand for battery materials continues to increase,” the president and CEO of Cirba Solutions, David Klanecky commented. “With the assistance of the DOE, Cirba Solutions can make even greater strides in our battery recycling efforts to complete a closed-loop supply chain in North America.”
Cirba Expands into South Carolina
In other news, Cirba Solutions also declared its ambition to build a flagship EV battery recycling facility in South Carolina. This project is anticipated to provide high-quality essential minerals required for more than five hundred thousand electric vehicles every year.
“The state of South Carolina and Richland County have been tremendous partners in supporting Cirba Solutions’ strategy to build a sustainable battery materials supply chain,” Klanecky says. “We are proud to bring this battery materials megasiite to Richland County, which will create generational jobs in the state and support an amazing community. Additionally, it shows our commitment to provide sustainably sourced and domestic battery-grade raw materials for cathode production in North America.”
Cirba Solutions has committed to investing over $1 billion in the sector within the next five years, with plans to substantially expand its material processing capacities by over six hundred percent.
The governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, additionally commented that, “South Carolina has worked hard to create a business environment where the electric vehicle industry can thrive, and with announcements like this it is most certainly paying off. We are proud to have Cirba Solutions as a partner as we continue to grow our already booming electric vehicle industry.”
