Recycled-content cells become packs at Factory ZERO in GM’s closed-loop battery recycling pilot
(Image courtesy of General Motors)
GM has built its first EVs with battery cells whose cathode active material contains 100% recycled nickel, cobalt and manganese. That metal includes material recovered from GM’s own retired packs. The closed-loop battery recycling pilot ran through a recycler, a refiner and a cell maker before the metal came back, and the 100% recycled-content figure is distinct from the recovery rates GM cites for recycling generally.
Closed-loop battery recycling, from 80 packs to new cells
The pilot began with 80 end-of-life GM EV batteries that Cirba Solutions processed at its Ohio facility, its announcement says. What came out was black mass, the blend of battery materials left when spent lithium-ion packs are disassembled and separated. Black mass was only the first step, because its nickel, cobalt and manganese still had to become cathode active material, the material whose critical minerals help determine a battery’s cost, safety and performance. Cirba says a strategic partnership handled the refining.
That refining produced more than 12 metric tons of cathode active material containing 100% recycled nickel, cobalt and manganese. Before entering a cell, that material had to meet the same quality, performance and safety standards as new material. GM says testing then showed that cells built with it performed as well as cells made from virgin material.
Ultium Cells, the joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution, then produced the cells. GM teams built them into modules and packs at Factory ZERO and Spring Hill. Melissa Flaherty, GM’s director of sustainable EV battery ecosystem, writes that one key lesson was how much teamwork and coordination such programmes require.
The first models to carry the cells are the Cadillac LYRIQ, LYRIQ-V, VISTIQ, ESCALADE IQ and IQL, the Chevrolet Silverado EV Trail Boss and the GMC Sierra EV AT4. According to GM, they left Spring Hill Assembly and Factory ZERO in September bound for customers.
Recovery rates and recycled content are not the same number
GM cites recovery rates of up to 95% for nickel, cobalt and manganese and up to 80% for lithium, depending on process conditions and battery chemistry. Those describe what today’s processes can extract. By contrast, the 100% describes what went into the cathode active material, and it covers those three metals rather than the whole cell.
As GM frames it, the case for closed-loop battery recycling rests on cost and supply. Raw materials are among the largest cost drivers in battery cells, so recovering and reusing them can help support lower-cost batteries over time. Doing so can also reduce reliance on newly extracted materials and strengthen supply chain resilience.
Where closed-loop battery recycling fits in GM’s lifecycle plan
GM designs its remanufacturing and refurbishment programmes to reuse more than 70% of pack components, and recycling often comes last. Some packs also serve in stationary energy storage first, although not every battery will follow the same path.
GM says it is working with Redwood Materials to deploy roughly 10,000 second-life batteries into energy infrastructure. That includes what it describes as the largest second-life battery microgrid in North America. GM calls the closed-loop battery recycling pilot a foundation of data and experience to build on as more EV batteries reach the end of their useful lives over the next decade and beyond. It says it will share more at Climate Week NYC, where it is a title sponsor of the Nest Campus.
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