The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the seven winners of phase II of its Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize on Dec. 17. The phased prize competition is designed to help find innovative solutions to collecting, storing and transporting discarded lithium-ion batteries for eventual recycling. The goal is to develop and demonstrate processes that, when scaled, have the potential to profitably capture 90 percent of all discarded or spent lithium-based batteries in the United States and reintroduce key materials into the U.S. supply chain.

"Lithium-ion batteries power our daily lives, but only five percent of spent lithium-ion batteries in the United States are recycled," Daniel Simmons, assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, says. "The innovative battery recycling concepts being developed by these prize winners will improve our ability to give batteries a second life as well as recover resources to reuse time and time again."

Fourteen teams participated in phase II of the competition, which focused on building industry partnerships to design, simulate and prototype a proof-of-concept solution. Phase II winners will each receive a $357,000 cash prize, in addition to $100,000 in non-cash vouchers to use at national labs and approved organizations within the American-Made Challenges Network. These winners advance to the third and final phase of the competition—pilot validation.

The winners include the following teams: Li Industries, Blacksburg, Virginia; OnTo Technologies, Bend, Oregon; Powering the Future, Glendale, Wisconsin; Renewance, Chicago; Smartville; San Diego; Team Portables, Seattle; and Titan Advanced Energy Solutions, Sommerville, Massachusetts.

The $5.5 million Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize was first announced in January 2019. The prize is sponsored by the Vehicle Technologies Office and the Advanced Manufacturing Office. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) serves as the administrator of the prize.