Watercycle Technologies, Primobius partner on battery recycling

Watercycle Technologies Ltd., a Manchester, England-based climate-tech company specializing in critical minerals recovery, has entered into a cooperation agreement with Germany-based Primobius GmbH, a joint venture that combines the process capabilities of Neometals Ltd. and SMS group's engineering expertise.

Watercycle and Primobius say they are committed to collaborating on projects that support the sustainable extraction of critical minerals and pledge to share insights and optimize their respective technologies for battery recycling processes. The agreement also will serve as a framework to explore the potential for a deeper commercial relationship.

“Partnering with Watercycle is a great opportunity to combine our strengths and push the boundaries of battery recycling," Primobius CEO Michel Siemon says. "As a lifecycle partner, we focus on delivering solutions that maximize resource recovery and reduce the environmental impact. Together, we are expanding our ecosystem and thus enhancing our ability to help clients meet their sustainability goals and drive positive change in the industry.” 

Primobius’ technology offers a two-step method to recover high-value battery materials from end-of-life and scrap lithium-ion batteries, achieving reduced carbon emissions. This approach complements Watercycle’s mineral recovery systems, and the partnership aims to foster an innovative ecosystem, accelerating the commercialization of technologies intended to reduce the need for new raw materials in the battery supply chain. 

Backed by its shareholders, SMS Group, with 150 years of engineering experience, and Neometals Ltd., known for its expertise in battery materials production and sustainable resource recovery, Primobius delivers recycling plants designed to meet quality, health and safety and regulatory compliance standards. In addition, Primobius says it offers access to an ecosystem of industry partners for project execution, scalability and operational performance.

Watercycle is focused on Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallization and recycling spent lithium-ion batteries and black mass. Watercycle Technologies says it offers scalable, modular technology that also can be applied to the extraction of other critical minerals and metals from all types of water, including wastewater. Based at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre in Manchester, Watercycle Technologies is a spin-out of the University of Manchester and is backed by business accelerator Aer Ventures.

“At Watercycle Technologies, we are committed to pioneering sustainable and scalable solutions for critical metal recovery,” Watercycle co-founder and CEO Seb Leaper says. “This cooperation agreement reflects our shared vision with Primobius of leveraging advanced hydrometallurgical processes to drive innovation while ensuring environmental responsibility. We look forward to entering this partnership and collaborating on projects that support a circular economy.”

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