Company officials with battery recycler Li-Cycle said in a statement Wednesday that they remain "fully committed to Rochester" and to the development of a Rochester hub facility.
The firm’s co-founders and top executives put out the statement two days after pausing construction on a major expansion at Eastman Business Park. Li-Cycle has blamed escalating construction costs for the temporary halt.
More than 200 construction workers and untold project managers were sent home Monday and told to collect all their equipment from the site, said Joe Morelle Jr., executive director for UniCon, which works with contractors and unions in the area.
The question is: For how long?
"There is absolutely no way that you can turn off the spigot and turn it right back on," he said. "I mean, we anticipate that this could be a couple months before they're ready to get folks back on the project maybe longer."
The Canadian-based lithium battery recycler was in the midst of a massive expansion promising 270 jobs.
There are two facilities at the park. One is referred to as a "spoke," which employs about 40 people who take in and break down lithium batteries, creating a "black mass." The recycled material then goes to the "hub" facility and is processed to create battery-grade lithium, nickel and cobalt. The hub employs about 50 people, and is what officials are referring to with job projections.
Engineering and procurement are largely complete, according to the company statement — making it unclear what specifically is driving the cost increases. Morelle said he does not think it is labor-related but instead stems from supply chain issues. The company has a $375 million federal loan commitment, in addition to local incentives. None of that assistance has been released, officials said.
Given the demand for labor on other local projects, Morelle expects most workers to find other jobs, and soon. That means Li-Cycle will face a challenge when it is ready to start work again.
"They can bring folks back on in, you know, eight to 10 weeks," he said. "That's not going to be the overall delay of this project, it could be significantly longer, talking months, in order to revamp a project of that size."
Li-Cycle said it is completing a full review of the project, including phasing, scope and budget. The company said it will release its full third-quarter financial results next month, as scheduled, and will include updates on near-term plans and the project review process.
