Dr. Dan Steingart, battery researcher at Columbia University, discusses the economics of sorting spent battery cells rather than sending them directly to recycling.
Assertion Supported
Steingart: Redwood, Ascend, and Li-Cycle rely on scrap exceeding 20%
“Currently, all three of these companies are living off of gigafactory scrap, which is exceptionally high, over, over 20%, as I understand it.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Steingart: Battery recyclers will face a lean period as scrap rates drop
“I worry about the business case here because the gigafactories have every incentive in the world to minimize this amount of scrap, and so at the same time, we don't want batteries to die, so every recycler is going to have a lean period as scrap rates go down.…”
Prediction Open · timeframe Apr 2029
Steingart: Direct recycling is likely the only viable path for LFP batteries
“I think if LFP recycling is going to have a shot, it's going to be on a direct recycling route, and for those that know me and get a beer with me after conferences, they're probably doing a spit take, because I'm pretty skeptical of direct recycling in a lot o…”
Opinion
Steingart: 5-minute charging batteries with zero explosion risk are likely impossible
“So the question is, is how do we have a battery that it gets us a 300 mile range that can be charged in five minutes that has zero danger of exploding, right? And that's probably Impossible, completely, but understanding how and why they explode is something r…”
Insight
Steingart: Battery recycling is a tolling operation without supply ownership
“I think the brutal truth is, is that it's a cost center, and that inputs, recycled inputs, are ultimately a tolling operation unless Redwood can pull off owning the supply. Because if Redwood can pull off owning the supply, then it owns the mine of the future,…”
Opinion
Steingart: Graphite battery recycling is hard to justify economically and technically
“Long story short, graphite recycling is in its infancy, and it's pretty difficult to justify from a purity and homogeneity basis, and, you know, frankly, there, there's plenty of graphite in the ground, so, so it's hard to justify from an economic basis recycl…”