Of the numerous U.S.-based battery recycling companies to receive federal funding through acts such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Charlotte, North Carolina-based Cirba Solutions is the first.
Since receiving grants totaling $82 million in late 2022 from the Department of Energy (DOE), the company has used the financial infusion to aid in the expansion of its lithium-ion battery (LIB) processing facility in Lancaster, Ohio. The expansion will allow Cirba Solutions to process enough battery-grade critical minerals, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, to power more than 200,000 new electric vehicles (EVs) per year while creating 150 jobs.
In September, the company was again selected to enter into an award negotiation with the DOE for up to $200 million under the BIL that it intends to put toward the construction of its flagship LIB processing facility in South Carolina—a 200-acre campus it says is expected to produce battery-grade salts for approximately 500,000 EV batteries per year while creating more than 300 jobs…