Call2Recycle Canada, EVSX launch battery processing facility

Toronto-based battery collection and recycling organization Call2Recycle Canada and EVSX, a wholly-owned subsidiary of St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp., have launched operations at EVSX’s new battery processing plant in Thorold, Ontario.

The firms say the new facility will recycle the increasing volumes of alkaline and carbon zinc batteries collected through Call2Recycle’s battery recycling program in Ontario and other provinces.

Located at the Bioveld Complex in Niagara, Call2Recycle says the facility has a processing capacity of 4,200 tons of alkaline batteries per year, achieving an 87.7 percent ratio of battery components effectively recycled (RER, or recycling efficiency rate). The addition of this facility supports the increasing volumes of alkaline batteries recycled by Canadians and collected by Call2Recycle, which notes a 21 percent collection growth nationally since 2023, with Ontario contributing approximately 40 percent of those volumes.

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The organizations plan to work with St-Georges Metallurgy to transform black mass and develop agricultural fertilizer products.

“Call2Recycle is the leader in Ontario’s battery recycling and waste diversion efforts,” Call2Recycle Canada President Joe Zenobio says. "Partnering with EVSX is a major step in expanding our recycling infrastructure, and supports our objectives for ever greater battery recycling efforts in Ontario and all of Canada.”

Enrico Di Cesare, CEO of EVSX, says the Thorold plant investment is the “steppingstone” for the company’s battery recycling strategy, and it appreciates Call2Recycle’s support in achieving it.

“We are committed to continue expanding our operations to reach a 100 percent recovery of all battery components recycled in our facility,” he adds.

Since it began in 1997, Call2Recycle says it safely has collected and recycled around 50 million kilograms of batteries across Canada. The development of the new plant follows a 2022 agreement between the organization and EVSX to build a full battery recycling ecosystem in Ontario, culminating in a three-year supply agreement and helping support the province’s ambitious waste diversion goals.

Call2Recycle says EVSX’s facility further strengthens the program’s operations in Ontario, as over 60 percent of the batteries collected by the program in the province now can be processed locally, reducing the transportation footprint and associated carbon emissions.

“This local approach also provides economic benefits, including regional job growth and bolstering Ontario’s circular economy,” Call2Recycle says. “It will also support national efforts to provide Canadians with convenient and accessible recycling solutions, contributing to a strong circular economy nationwide.”