Reality CheckUrban mining for black mass has the potential to be commercially viable but a few things need to be considered here,
First, the recycled material produced needs to be price competitive with mined raw materials. One of the challenges is that a company needs to have a proven process to extract a minimum of 90% of a variety of materials to be price competitive. Also, mass production into a commodity driven market will drive the price down making it an even bigger challenge for the smaller players.
Secondly, there needs to be a large amount of used batteries available from a reliable source. Until a large amount of EVs have been on the road for a while, supply will remain somewhat limited. We're still quite a few years away from having the stockpile of batteries needed to feed the appetite of every company wanting to participate in the green movement.
Third a company needs to have a buyer for its recycled material. Significant players in the battery market like to have some control over where the recycled material is coming from. There is plenty of competition in this arena to negotiate with. The bigger players have the edge to be competitive.
So in summary, this venture is not going to happen overnight regardless of what is posted on this forum. This is still a high risk venture until more pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Relationships are key to survival.