Lithium battery waste gets AI-powered fix from Hong Kong startup

Hong Kong startup Achelous Pure Metals is addressing the growing global e-waste crisis, particularly lithium-ion battery waste, with an AI-powered, portable recycling system designed for urban centers. The company has developed a robot-assisted pilot line capable of sorting, shredding, and filtering materials from non-electric vehicle lithium batteries. Their process includes vacuum and heat treatments to safely extract hazardous substances and uses nanoparticle-based separation to isolate critical metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel from the "black mass" residue. Achelous aims to scale and deploy this eco-friendly recycling technology starting in Hong Kong and expanding across Southeast Asia. Despite deploying technology at a client facility in Jiangsu province capable of processing up to 10,000 tonnes of battery waste annually, the startup faces challenges due to oversupply and falling prices of recycled lithium products. Lithium carbonate prices have dropped nearly 90% from late 2022 to mid-2024 amid a surge in China’s recycling capacity and black mass competition. In response, Achelous is pivoting by expanding its Hong Kong operations and helping partners across Southeast Asia establish micro-factories to produce black mass for export to China. The company is also exploring recycling opportunities for lithium batteries from security transceivers and working with local firms in Malaysia and Singapore to meet future recycled content regulations and compliance tracking. This initiative comes amid a mounting global e-waste problem, with 62 million tonnes generated in 2022 and projections reaching 82 million tonnes by 2030. Metals in e-waste are valued at $91 billion, yet only 22% was properly recycled in 2022. Governments worldwide, including the EU, are tightening regulations to increase lithium recovery rates, underscoring the urgent need for innovative recycling solutions like those developed by Achelous Pure Metals.