Understanding the critical material at the heart of battery recycling, and why it matters for the energy transition.

By Stuart Tarrant, Livium CFO

As adoption of energy storage, electric vehicles and battery-powered devices grows, the world is generating a growing wave of spent lithium-ion batteries. This raises important questions on what happens to them at end-of-life and whether the valuable metals inside can be recovered.

At the centre of that question is a material with a deceptively unglamorous name - Black Mass. It has the appearance of a fine dark dust but is actually made up of a concentrated mix of some of the most strategically important metals in manufacturing today.

A Material Born from Recycling

Black Mass is produced when spent batteries are safely discharged, dismantled, and shredded. The shredding process separates battery cell components which include copper, aluminium, steel, and plastics, as well as the active cathode and anode materials at its core. These active materials are amalgamated into Black Mass, which is a fine, dark powder.

The composition of black powder depends on the battery chemistry being processed. There are two dominant chemistries that we process, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC). Both types of Black Mass contain graphite and lithium and as their names suggest, LFP also contains iron phosphate and NMC is rich in cobalt, nickel, and manganese.

Each Black Mass type requires a downstream process to recover and refine the individual metals into battery-grade material, with LFP focussing on lithium recovery and NMC providing a broader metal recovery process.

Why It Matters

Recovering these materials through recycling offers something primary mining cannot, namely a domestically controlled, lower-carbon feedstock that is not exposed to the same sovereign risks. For countries like Australia, which are simultaneously rich in critical minerals and committed to building downstream processing capability, Black Mass sits at a strategically important intersection.

This dynamic is also being reinforced by changing regulation, globally. The European Union and the United States have both introduced requirements for minimum recycled content in new batteries which creates a genuine commercial closed loop supply chain for Black Mass and will, in time, incentivise recycling practices for both the consumer and manufacturer.

Where Livium Fits

Through Envirostream, Livium collects spent lithium-ion batteries from across Australia and processes them in Victoria, producing Black Mass that is then supplied to downstream processing customers. Historically, the focus has been on NMC Black Mass, however for Livium the strategic relevance of LFP Black Mass has grown materially as China’s export controls on advanced LFP cathode technologies have restricted access to state-of-the-art manufacturing know-how.

The volume of end-of-life batteries reaching Livium’s operations is expected to grow substantially as the first generation of mass-market EVs approaches end of life. Livium’s position as an established Black Mass producer with demonstrated collection infrastructure and existing customer relationships, places it ahead of a supply curve that is only beginning to build

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Is Black Mass the same regardless of battery type?

A: No. Black Mass composition varies significantly depending on the battery chemistry. NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) batteries produce Black Mass rich in nickel and cobalt, while LFP batteries yield Black Mass containing lithium, iron, and phosphate. This matters because different downstream processors are set up to handle different feedstocks.

Q: Why not just recycling batteries back into new batteries directly?

A: Battery manufacturing requires highly purified, battery-grade materials. Black Mass is the intermediate step — a concentrated feedstock that must be further refined before its constituent metals can re-enter the battery supply chain. This two-stage process (collection and processing to Black Mass, then refining) reflects the reality of building a closed-loop system.

Q: How does Livium's battery recycling process differ to those undertaken internationally?

A: They are the same. What Livium does is called “pre-processing” by the industry and results in the production of Black Mass. Recovery of value streams from Black Mass is called “processing” by the industry. Typically, these processes require tens of thousands of tonnes of batteries – volumes of this scale are not expected until the 2030’s. Due to scale, these processes are capital intensive.

Livium is working with select partners to assess new technologies which have the potential for low volume, low capital intensive Black Mass processing.

Q: How large is the Black Mass opportunity?

The volume of end-of-life batteries is expected to grow significantly over the coming decade, driven by the first generation of mass-market electric vehicles reaching end of life. Jurisdictions including the European Union and the United States are also introducing regulations requiring battery recycled content in new batteries — creating both regulatory pull and commercial incentive for Black Mass supply.