![]() government is pushing to expand mining activity in states like Nevada. The country is a critical link in the supply chains of EV manufacturers, including Tesla. This week, Wired magazine reported that a surge in nickel mining in Indonesia has led to worker deaths, polluted air and water, and the destruction of forests and fisheries. The Biden administration says it wants to produce more metals and minerals domestically, both to reduce the nation’s reliance on overseas suppliers like China, and to limit the potential for unchecked environmental harm and human-rights violations in mining operations. Globally, demand for lithium-ion batteries could increase by over 500 percent this decade, from 700 gigawatt-hours in 2022 to around 4, 700 gigawatt-hours in 2030, according to a recent analysis by McKinsey & Company. As more households and businesses adopt electric vehicles and install backup storage systems for buildings, the need for these materials is expected to skyrocket. demand for the metals and minerals used to make batteries, including lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. The company, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is scaling its lithium-ion recycling operations in Ohio and across the country to fulfill the rising U.S. Soon, this facility will be able to churn out roughly four times more battery-grade material - potentially enough to power more than 200, 000 new EVs annually. Plute and I are visiting the second building, which right now recycles millions of pounds per year of cells from electric vehicles, hybrid cars, e-bikes and consumer electronics. At a quiet industrial park surrounded by farmland, the company operates two facilities: one for processing lead- and nickel-based batteries, and another for processing lithium-ion batteries. ![]() Plute is the environmental manager at Cirba Solutions’ battery recycling operation in Lancaster, which is located some 30 miles southeast of Ohio’s capital city, Columbus. “It just smells like a lot of batteries to me,” Tom Plute observes, as he slides on a bright yellow hard hat and heads deeper inside the cavernous building. Walking inside Cirba Solutions’ sprawling plant, it’s as if someone has just removed the plastic cap of an enormous Sharpie permanent marker. Push them open, and a strange, nearly sweet scent immediately fills the air. LANCASTER, Ohio - Two sets of double doors mark the entrance of a long, squat industrial building in Central Ohio. ![]()
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