Specialist
Former Member at a leading global battery resource company
Agenda
- Battery recycling industry 2022 year in review and 2023 outlook
- Li-Cycle’s (NYSE: LICY) competitive positioning against key peers
- Commercial uptake growth and business model feasibility
- Unit cost trends and capacity expansion outlook
Questions
1.
What are your main highlights of 2022 for the battery recycling industry? When we talk about uptake growth for battery recycling, did that grow or decline in 2022? Do you see recent policy changes such as the Inflation Reduction Act improving that uptake growth outlook?
2.
Can you elaborate on how you don’t see an OEM exclusively agreeing to off-takes or partnerships with a single recycler? If we were to take Li-Cycle’s agreements with Glencore and LG, that closed-loop chain isn’t exclusive to Li-Cycle? You would see Glencore or LG diversifying to other recyclers moving forward? Are there any implications of that?
3.
You said black mass production capacity in the Americas has grown in 2022. How much incremental capacity have we seen go into the market and what does that mean for overall raw material supply security, trending into 2023? Do you think it will be less of an issue going into 2023?
4.
Black mass availability and supply security are obviously important factors, but you also alluded to issues with the ultimate aim of using black mass to produce cathode materials or sulphates. What seems to be the biggest issue here when we talk about conversion to the ultimate end product?
5.
Could you elaborate on the recycling technology differences we’re seeing between players in the west and in Asia, specifically China? Why do you view China being more mature when it comes to battery recycling?
6.
What do you think the next generation of recycling technology looks like? Is there any technology or market threat to hydromet direct recycling, or pyromet?
7.
When we talk about improving recoveries with battery recycling, how would you compare that as a driver of making the economics feasible for battery recycling in the long term, vs returns to scale from increasing output and obviously bringing down processing costs? Especially when we see it being a major issue for players such as Li-Cycle in making its business viable?
8.
When we talk about relative maturity between China and the US or the west, why wasn’t there a recycling ecosystem in the west to begin with? Is that to do with commercial uptake being hamstrung by the economics of battery recycling?
9.
How do players in the value chain think about repurposing batteries as a step before recycling? Are we seeing this in the industry?
10.
Could you elaborate on the importance of industry partnerships? For example, why would we see automotive manufacturers partner with a recycling company such as Li-Cycle?
11.
What do you consider to be most noteworthy partnerships right now of the four key players we’ve discussed? What do you see as the benefits for each of the companies and counterparties?
12.
What’s your assessment of the general competitive landscape across Li-Cycle, Redwood, Ascend and Retriev? How would you compare the players, especially in terms of checking the boxes we discussed regarding making a sustainable lithium battery recycling business?
13.
How would you differentiate the scalability or viability of the supply chains across players? Whose set-up makes the most sense? Which are exposed to risks specific to each company?
14.
What is the opportunity for players to branch out beyond the US and into Europe and Asia? Do you think there is a rationale and a desire to extend materially into Europe and Asia, outside of China?
15.
You described Li-Cycle’s supply chain set-up as probably the safest. Do you think Li-Cycle’s closed-loop chain with Glencore and LG is sufficient to create a sustainable recycling business, at least through the medium term? Are there any inefficiencies or shortfalls in the chain?
16.
What are your thoughts on key opportunities and risks in 2023? We’ve seen some announcements under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law regarding battery materials processing, recycling and so on. What key things would you point out for 2023?
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