The growing use of batteries will require a jump in recycling. A startup is promising a technology that will economically recover key transition metals from the ‘black mass’ of shredded dead batteries at smaller scale plants.
“The winner in this industry will be the one offering the highest efficiency and the best-in-class economics,” Preston Bryant, founder and executive chairman of Momentum Technologies, told BloombergNEF. “We are able to offer that with our modular extraction technology.” It can extract lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements, among other metals.
CMI scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed the membrane-based solvent extraction or MSX process to recover metals from rare earth magnets and lithium-ion batteries. Momentum Technologies holds an exclusive license for it globally.
“Using a membrane-based system allows us to build a very modular technology, and that allows us to do some unique things in the world of battery recycling,” said Bryant. “We can physically be located closer to where the batteries are being shredded.”
Link to the full story: ‘Black Mass’ of Dead Batteries Best Recycled in Small Doses