The Role of Recycling in the Supply Chain of Critical Battery Materials
Kunal Phalpher, Chief Commercial Officer • Li-Cycle
As the key driver of the transition away from a carbon-based economy, lithium-ion batteries are used in a broad range of applications, including automotive, energy storage and consumer electronics. However, the ever-growing demand for lithium-ion batteries without a plan for handling them at their end of life is not sustainable. Concerns along the supply chain of critical battery materials - including the scattering of raw materials throughout the world and the negative social and environmental impacts of raw material production – place a strain on the responsible sourcing of these critical battery materials. The world needs supply chain innovations to recycle these batteries locally and more sustainability to meet the rapidly growing demand for critical and scarce battery-grade materials and close the loop in this market. Li-Cycle Corp. (Li-Cycle) provides a solution for this gap through an innovative and sustainable resource recovery process that can bring a piece of the battery supply chain, critical material supply, to all regions of the world and address the estimated 2.6 million tonnes of batteries expected to reach end of life by 2030. This presentation will explore the urgent need for creating a sustainable and local critical battery materials supply chain, while addressing the economic and sustainability challenges of lithium-ion battery recycling and how Li-Cycle Spoke & Hub Technologies are able to help overcome some of these industry challenges and close the loop for critical battery materials throughout the world.
Li-Cycle’s Chief Commercial Officer, Kunal Phalpher, has been with the company since 2017. After initially joining the team as an Advisor, he was nominated as a member of the board shortly thereafter, before moving into his current role in 2018. With nearly 15 years of work experience, Kunal brings extensive international expertise in the lithiumion battery and renewable energy sectors to his current role. His wealth of knowledge has been a principled and significant asset to both Li-Cycle’s business development and corporate strategies. Prior to joining the Li-Cycle team, Kunal worked for a residential solar company as the Director of Product Development and was the Director of Business Development for a lithium-ion battery manufacturer, both in Toronto, Canada. He brings broad, comprehensive international experience to his position as Li-Cycle’s CCO, having spent several years working in Germany in the cleantech sector.