Good Question: What are the giant objects being delivered to Li-Cycle?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Giant objects are slowly moving down Lake Avenue to their final destination. Paul reached out because he wants to know: “What are these giant objects?”

They are the newest and largest additions to the Li-Cycle facility on McLaughlin Road and they’re called “sodium sulphate crystallizers”.

Li-Cycle is a lithium ion battery recycling plant. Lithium ion batteries are everywhere inside cell phones, cameras, and even flashlights, which are the kind of items recycled at the plant. The plant got a $375 million loan this February from the U.S. Department of Energy to become a national leader in lithium ion recycling.

The structures are 84 feet long, about the same as a high school basketball court, and 18 feet wide. Li-Cycle says the equipment was successfully installed. but what does it do?

The equipment helps concentrate specific solutions by evaporating water, leaving behind a valuable product for further processing to recover critical battery materials.

That shipment of five large pieces of equipment weighed over 450,000 pounds. Without getting too technical, the facility takes black mass, which is a mixture of chemicals from old batteries, and transforms it into valuable new materials.

The Rochester plant will be capable of processing about 90,000 tons of lithium ion battery materials each year.

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