Hyundai Canada and Lithion Recycling announce a new recycling agreement for EV batteries

MARKHAM — On Mar. 11, Hyundai Canada announced an agreement with Quebec-based Lithion Recycling on the recovery and recycling of high-voltage batteries from some of its Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid and Electric vehicles, with the ultimate goal of increasing the sustainability of its electric vehicle production cycle.

“Developing electric vehicles has been a priority of ours for many years. Hyundai is now Canada’s largest distributor of mainstream electric vehicles, of which we are very proud,” said Michel Poirier, Director of Customer Experience and Aftersales with Hyundai Auto Canada. “As a result, we need to be proactive and develop a sustainable end-of-life disposal model for these batteries.”

Lithion has developed a process for recycling lithium-ion batteries. The process allows for 95% of battery components to be recovered and treated, in order to be reused by battery manufacturers, closing the loop on battery life-cycle.

“Lithion Recycling is thrilled and proud to team up with Hyundai Canada, a visionary and very active mobility solution provider aiming to create a sustainable supply chain for its lithium-ion batteries. This service agreement will validate an economic and innovative technology that considerably reduces the carbon footprint compared to incumbent technologies and mining.” said Benoît Couture, President and CEO of Lithion Recycling. He added: “This type of partnership paves the way to the collaborative business model of the future, enabling battery safe disposal and close loop recovery of critical minerals and metals used in lithium-ion battery, which are needed to decarbonize transportation.”

Last development stages of industrial scale piloting currently take place at Lithion’s 10,000 sq. ft. plant in Anjou, Quebec, with their first commercial plant due to open in 2022. Hyundai is the first automotive manufacturer in Canada to officialize a service agreement with Lithion.