Aqua Metals launches Innovation Center for lithium-ion battery recycling east of Reno

Nearly two years after a fire damaged its refinery just east of Reno-Sparks, Aqua Metals announced a new facility at the same industrial park for researching battery recycling technology.

The Aqua Metals Innovation Center will focus on accelerating research on the company’s lithium-ion battery refining and recycling technology, which it licenses to other parties. The technology, which uses water and is performed at room temperature, is marketed as a more environmentally friendly alternative to smelting.

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The goal is to eventually turn the new facility at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center into a full-blown testing site, said Susan Butenhoff, a spokeswoman for Aqua Metals.

“Scientists and engineers are continuing lab-scale development of the lithium-Ion solution and setting up a machine for the fabrication of prototype equipment,” Butenhoff said. “There are 14 employees at the Innovation Center, and this will scale as they move from lab to pilot levels.”

The Innovation Center reflects the change in business philosophy for Aqua Metals, which started out as a recycler with its exclusive technology. In 2015, the company, which was based in Oakland at the time, first broke ground on 11.5 acres to build a $29.6 million lead battery recycling facility at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, just one year after Tesla chose the same site for its first Gigafactory.

By 2019, the 136,000-square-foot facility employed 70 people and recycled 35,000 ingots worth of lead through Aqua Metals’ technology. Later that year, however, a fire broke out at the facility on the evening of Nov. 29, causing significant damage to the property.

This February, Aqua Metals inked a lease-to-buy agreement with clean-tech startup LINICO for the refining facility. The agreement included an arrangement to allow Aqua Metals to use a portion of the original facility. Aqua Metals also invested $2 million in LINICO to acquire a 10% ownership stake with the company.

“The fire was a blessing in disguise because the company used this as a catalyst to redirect its business strategy from being a recycler to being a licensor of recycling technology, meaning more recyclers will be able to take advantage of their clean, closed-loop recycling AquaRefining technology,” Butenhoff said.

Aqua Metals has also started using its technology for lithium-ion battery recycling. The decision was driven by “the growing demand for critical metals driven by the global transition to electric vehicles, growth in Internet data centers, and alternative energy applications including solar, wind, and grid-scale storage,” according to the company. Aqua Metals expects the global lithium-ion battery recycling market to reach $11.07 billion by 2027.

Another local technology company, Redwood Materials, also cited increased demand for battery recycling and materials for its decision to undertake a major expansion of its Carson City headquarters as well as the construction of a new facility at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. 

In addition to the innovation center at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, Aqua Metals opened its new headquarters in Reno for its management and business development team.

“Our new headquarters coupled with our Innovation Center strongly position Aqua Metals for our next phase of development,” said Steve Cotton, Aqua Metals president and CEO.

Jason Hidalgo covers business and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal, and also reviews the latest video games. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo. Like this content? Support local journalism with an RGJ digital subscription.