American Manganese Inc. ("AMY" or the "Company") has selected Minviro Ltd. ("Minviro"), a UK-based and globally recognized sustainability and life cycle assessment consultancy, to conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the company's battery recycling-upcycling process, RecycLiCo.
LCA is a standardized, scientific method for quantifying the direct and embodied environmental impacts associated with a particular product or process. By considering all material and energy inputs (scope 1, 2 and 3 CO2 emissions), LCAs provide a detailed account of a project's environmental footprint that can help guide transparent discussions on climate change, carbon neutralization, water use impacts, human health impacts, and land use. Furthermore, life cycle assessments can highlight environmental hotspots in production processes and support strategies to reduce impacts for future development.
The study will involve a complete 'gate-to-gate' life cycle impact assessment that quantifies the environmental performance of producing cathode precursor material from battery waste via AMY’s RecycLiCo process. Minviro will benchmark the results against conventional primary cathode precursor operations and competitor recycling routes. Under ISO compliance, all results are to be reviewed by third-party experts in industry and academia to allow for comparative assertions and ensure a comprehensive review of data.
"Environmental responsibility is a fundamental part of all businesses in the lithium-ion battery space, and it will become increasingly essential if regulators introduce legislation for mandatory environmental footprint declarations," said Larry Reaugh, President and CEO of American Manganese. "Therefore, our mission is not only to achieve the highest recycling efficiency of waste battery material but to also produce battery materials with the highest environmental performance of any battery material produced. We are excited to work with Minviro to evaluate our RecycLiCo battery recycling-upcycling process and provide quantifiable data that regulators recognize, and consumers can count on."
Minviro Founder and CEO, Dr Robert Pell noted, “Battery material circularity is a key development for helping the industry cope with the huge material demand presented by global electrification. It is important that life cycle thinking is applied to understand the environmental benefits of recycling compared to primary production. We are excited to work with American Manganese on this interesting project and are looking forward to all parties gaining novel insights into the life cycle impact of cutting-edge technology.”