- US lithium battery recycling now under a black mass export restriction
- Commerce rule keeping 100% of black mass sales domestic
- Redwood Materials claiming about 90% of North American throughput
- Ecobat, Li-Cycle and Ascend Elements assets under new owners
- EPA lithium battery universal waste rule still in development
- Battery EPR laws enacted in nine states plus Washington DC
- The Battery Network operating over 20,000 US collection sites
US lithium battery recycling entered a new regulatory phase on 27 August 2026, when a Department of Commerce order took effect requiring American sellers of black mass to allocate 100% of monthly sales to US buyers unless they hold a federal exception. The rule lands as the sector consolidates: Ecobat completed its exit from lithium-ion recycling on 2 September, and Ascend Elements’ plants were sold in Chapter 11 over the summer.
How US lithium battery recycling works
The chain starts with collection. The Battery Network, the Atlanta-based stewardship group that rebranded from Call2Recycle in January 2026, says it runs more than 20,000 drop-off sites, including Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowe’s stores, and that 80% of Americans live within 15 miles of one. Consumers can search its battery drop-off locator by ZIP code and battery type.
Retail bins take intact household cells only. Damaged, swollen or recalled batteries go to municipal household hazardous waste programmes or back to the manufacturer. Terminals should be taped and each battery bagged separately, because a loose cell in a collection box or a garbage truck is a fire risk.
At the plant, packs are discharged, dismantled and shredded. The shredded fraction is separated into copper, aluminium and steel streams plus black mass, a powder of cathode and anode material carrying lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite. Black mass is then refined by hydrometallurgy (acid leaching and precipitation) or pyrometallurgy (smelting) into battery-grade salts or intermediates. Value per tonne tracks the lithium price and nickel and cobalt benchmarks, which is why recycler margins swing with the metals cycle.
The black mass export restriction
The order is a temporary final rule issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security on 6 August 2026 under the Defense Production Act, following Presidential Determination 2026-19 of 30 July. It runs until 27 August 2027, though BIS can extend or amend it. The full text is published in the Federal Register, with public comments due by 4 November 2026.
Exports are effectively barred unless BIS grants a company-specific or general adjustment, with interim licences available while requests are pending. The same order covers tungsten waste and scrap, a material that feeds tungsten price formation for APT and ferrotungsten buyers.
The first operator impact is already visible. American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ: ABAT) said it has filed an exception request and is storing its black mass while it waits for a decision, while continuing to sell copper, aluminium and other byproducts. Until domestic refining capacity catches up, exporters of intermediate black mass face either stockpiling or selling into a thinner US buyer pool.
Who processes US lithium battery recycling volumes
Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, is the largest operator. The company says roughly 90% of lithium-ion batteries processed in North America pass through its facilities and that its Nevada campus produced more than 60,000 tonnes of materials in 2024. Its Camp Hall site in Berkeley County, South Carolina, began recovery operations in November 2025 with an initial 20,000 tonnes a year of capacity.
ABTC runs a hydrometallurgical plant at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in McCarran, Nevada. Revenue for the fiscal year to 30 June 2026 rose 407% to $21.7 million, and the company is planning a second plant in the Southeast sized for about 100,000 tonnes of battery material a year. In 2025 it received EPA approval to accept CERCLA-classified waste, including batteries from grid storage fires.
Glencore (LSE: GLEN) bought Li-Cycle’s assets out of bankruptcy in August 2025 for roughly $40 million, taking over spoke plants in Arizona, Alabama and New York and the unfinished Rochester hydrometallurgical hub. The acquisition adds recycling feed to Glencore’s critical minerals business, but Monroe County development officials said in November 2025 they were still awaiting detail on the hub’s scope. Cirba Solutions operates a lithium-ion processing plant in Lancaster, Ohio.
| Operator | Main US sites | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Redwood Materials | Nevada; Berkeley County, South Carolina | Operating; South Carolina phase one online Nov 2025 |
| American Battery Technology Co (ABAT) | McCarran, Nevada | Operating; second plant planned in Southeast |
| Glencore (ex-Li-Cycle) | Arizona, Alabama, New York spokes; Rochester hub | Acquired Aug 2025; hub restart timing not published |
| R3 Lithium (ex-Ascend Elements) | Covington, Georgia | Acquired Jul 2026; limited lithium carbonate output |
| Cirba Solutions | Lancaster, Ohio | Operating |
For a ranked view of the leading operators worldwide, see CMN’s top 10 battery recycling companies.
Consolidation after Ecobat, Li-Cycle and Ascend
Ecobat’s Casa Grande, Arizona black mass plant, commissioned in April 2024, was the last piece of its lithium business when the sale closed on 2 September 2026. The buyer and price were not disclosed, and Ecobat now focuses on North American lead recycling.
Ascend Elements filed for Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas on 9 April 2026, after a $164 million DOE grant was cancelled in 2025 and the unused balance of a separate $316 million grant was later withdrawn. Its Covington, Georgia plant went to newly formed R3 Lithium for $3.0 million in cash, closing on 7 July. The unfinished Apex 1 site in Hopkinsville, Kentucky passed to its construction contractor, Turner-Kokosing Joint Venture. R3 Lithium is reported to have started limited lithium carbonate output in mid-September, with full output targeted for 2027.
The pattern across US lithium battery recycling is consistent: shredding capacity was built ahead of domestic refining, and projects that relied on federal grants and fast EV growth ran short of cash. CMN’s analysis of the US critical minerals processing gap covers the same bottleneck on the primary supply side.
Regulation: EPA rules and state EPR laws
Federally, lithium batteries fall under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The EPA lithium-ion recycling guidance recommends that businesses manage all used lithium batteries as universal waste under 40 CFR Part 273, because it can be difficult to tell which cells qualify as hazardous.
EPA announced in October 2023 that it would create a distinct universal waste category for lithium batteries with tighter fire-safety standards, citing more than 240 fires traced to batteries in municipal waste handling. Its last published regulatory agenda targeted a proposed rule for February 2026 and a final rule for August 2027. States with authorised hazardous waste programmes would then need to adopt it.
State legislatures are moving faster to fund US lithium battery recycling at the collection end. Battery extended producer responsibility laws are on the books in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Nebraska, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington, plus Washington DC, and Oregon added one in March 2026. Colorado’s SB26-003, passed in May, extends producer responsibility to EV propulsion batteries. These laws sit alongside the federal incentives set out in CMN’s guide to US critical minerals strategy.
What to watch for US lithium battery recycling
Three items will set the direction for US lithium battery recycling over the next 12 months: how many black mass export exceptions BIS grants before the 4 November comment deadline and after, whether EPA publishes its lithium universal waste proposal, and whether Glencore commits capital to the Rochester hub. ABTC’s Southeast plant and R3 Lithium’s ramp-up at Covington are the capacity additions to track.
Where can I recycle lithium-ion batteries in the US?
Intact household lithium-ion batteries can go to retail drop-off bins run by The Battery Network (formerly Call2Recycle), including Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowe’s stores. Damaged, swollen or recalled batteries should not go in retail bins. Take them to a municipal household hazardous waste programme or contact the manufacturer. Tape the terminals and bag each battery separately before drop-off.
What is black mass and why has the US restricted its export?
Black mass is the shredded powder of cathode and anode material produced in the first stage of lithium-ion battery recycling. It contains lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite. The Department of Commerce now requires US sellers to keep black mass sales domestic unless they obtain a federal exception, so that recovered metals feed US refiners. See the export restriction section above for the rule’s dates and scope.
Which companies recycle lithium batteries at industrial scale in the US?
The main operators are Redwood Materials (Nevada and South Carolina), American Battery Technology Company (Nevada), Glencore through its former Li-Cycle plants, R3 Lithium at the former Ascend Elements site in Georgia, and Cirba Solutions in Ohio. The operator table above shows the current status of each.
Are lithium-ion batteries hazardous waste under US federal rules?
Many used lithium batteries qualify as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The EPA recommends that businesses manage all of them under the streamlined universal waste rules in 40 CFR Part 273. The EPA is also developing a separate universal waste category for lithium batteries with added fire-safety standards.
Which US states have battery extended producer responsibility laws?
A growing number of states require battery producers to fund collection and recycling, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Vermont and Washington. Colorado has extended its programme to EV propulsion batteries. See the regulation section above for the current list.
