VinES, Li-Cycle launch global battery recycling partnership

Li-Cycle, the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, and VinES Energy Solutions of Vietnamese major Vingroup announced Thursday the launch of their global recycling partnership.

Under the new partnership, the Canadian major and the Vietnamese firm are exploring global recycling solutions for VinES and VinFast, a global electric vehicle maker that is also part of Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate.

The new partnership is expected to support VinES and VinFast in their creation of a closed-loop battery supply chain to enhance their environmental goals and contribute to the global electrified revolution with green mobility solutions.

It will also establish mutually beneficial global connections with all parties and strengthen Li-Cycle’s broad and diverse relationships with leading battery and EV manufacturers.

“The partnership with Li-Cycle is one important part of our environmental, social, and governance strategy to achieve sustainable and closed-loop battery production,” Pham Thuy Linh, CEO of VinES, said in the two companies’ release.

Ajay Kochhar, co-founder and CEO of Li-Cycle, said, “We all share a vision to advance a sustainable, efficient and closed-loop battery supply chain.”

In addition to a significant manufacturing complex in Vietnam's Hai Phong city, VinFast has announced plans to build a large EV manufacturing facility in North Carolina, the U.S., in March 2022.

VinFast was granted an incentive package of $1.2 billion from the State of North Carolina and expects to invest $2 billion to build the project’s first phase, which is designed to have the capacity of producing 150,000 vehicles per year.

VinES expects to continue to expand its current battery manufacturing capabilities in Vietnam and is exploring expansion into international markets.

Li-Cycle’s patented and sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling technologies, including its Spoke & Hub Technologies, are an "excellent fit" in both scale and scope for VinES and VinFast’s current and planned manufacturing capabilities, the Canadian firm says.

The company currently has four operational spoke recycling facilities in North America with a total processing capacity of 30,000 tons per year, or the equivalent of batteries from approximately 60,000 EVs. Based on its current project pipeline, the company expects to have a total of 65,000 tons per year of lithium-ion battery material processing capacity in North America and Europe as Li-Cycle continues to scale its Spoke & Hub network to support the recycling needs of a growing customer base.

Li-Cycle is also developing its first commercial Hub facility in Rochester, New York, which is expected to commence commissioning in 2023 and designed to process battery materials equivalent to approximately 225,000 EVs.