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Battery recycler Li-Cycle to create 270 jobs at Rochester facility, Sen. Schumer says

WXXI News | By Randy Gorbman

Published February 27, 2023 at 7:23 AM EST

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, greets Li-Cycle President and CEO Ajay Kochhar before the announcement Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, of a $375 million federal loan that will help push the company's expected workforce to 270 come next year.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer was in Rochester on Monday to announce that battery recycling company Li-Cycle has been awarded a $375 million federal loan that will help create 270 jobs at the company’s Eastman Business Park facility.

The New York Democrat and Senate Majority Leader said that Li-Cycle, a leading lithium-ion battery recycler, has been awarded that loan from the U.S. Department of Energy though the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program.

When Schumer and other officials gathered at the business park last September, Li-Cycle President and CEO, Ajay Kochhar said that at that time, his company employed about 35 people locally, but that he expected that number to grow to 220 jobs over the next year.

There are two facilities at the park. One that takes in and breaks down lithium batteries, creating a “black mass.” That "spoke" facility employs about 40. The recycled material then goes to the "hub" facility and is processed to create battery-grade lithium, nickel and cobalt. The hub currently employs about 50, and is what officials are referring to with job projections.

Image shows ongoing construction at the Li-Cycle property at Eastman Business Park in Greece. There are about 200 construction workers onsite today, but work will require 1,000 by this summer. Workers must be drawn from the 10-county region, officials said. — Construction is ongoing at the Li-Cycle property at Eastman Business Park in Greece. Estimates are that the facilities will encompass a combined 50 football fields. Work was 20% complete at the end of February 2023, with about 200 construction workers onsite. That workforce will need to grow to 1,000 by this summer. Workers must be drawn from the 10-county region, officials said.

Kochhar has said Eastman Business Park is a good location for their firm because of all of the infrastructure that is already located there. And Rochester has a workforce already trained in chemical processing.

"I don't think many folks have realized that this (facility) ... is expected to be the largest source of lithium carbonate here in the United States," Kochhar said Monday, "whether from mining, or from recycling."

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For perspective, the United States currently has, on hand, 5,000 tons of lithium carbonate that is made, he said. The Rochester facility will generate about 8,500 tons of lithium carbonate a year.

“The US demand for domestically manufactured critical minerals is expected to grow with the rise in electric vehicle sales, and electrification of the transportation sector," said Jigar Shah, director of loan programs for the U.S. Department of Energy. "We're going to need a massive scale up of our critical minerals supply chain to keep pace with these deployment goals.”

Schumer said the federal loan is funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, which he pushed for.

Includes reporting by staff writer Brian Sharp.