New Battery Recycling Center and Funding Announcement Strive to Develop New Recycling Technologies

The Department of Energy recently released a $5.5 million funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to develop new technologies to profitably capture 90% of all lithium based batteries in the United States. The FOA has been released in tandem with Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s announcement of a new Battery Recycling Research and Development (R&D) Center.

“America’s dependence on foreign sources of critical materials undermines our energy security and national security,” said Perry. “DOE will leverage the power of competition and the resources of the private sector, universities, and the National Laboratories to develop innovative recycling technologies, which will bolster economic growth, strengthen our energy security, and improve the environment.”

The goal of the FOA, in conjunction with the new Battery R&D Center, is to develop new innovative solutions to collecting, storing, and transporting used lithium-ion batteries. The FOA will be rolled out in three phased that will foster the development of solutions from concept to prototype to demonstration. The Lithium-Ion Battery R&D Recycling Center will be led by the Argonne National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.