As part of the $1.1B contract to rehabilitate the essential minerals

The US and Europe have a nickel problem. The essential minerals they are used in everything from batteries and missiles to electronics and metals. And yet, these two regions have been struggling to mine and manage mainly because of the complexities and challenges of waste.

Indonesia and China are the leading refiners. Dig deeper, however, and it turns out that Chinese companies control about 75% of Indonesia’s nickel refining capacity, too, giving the country control of more than half of the world’s production.

As relations with China deteriorate, “a lot of companies are starting to look at how do we start processing here in the US?” Megan O’Connor, co-founder and CEO of Nth Cyclehe told TechCrunch.

O’Connor’s startup has been developing electrochemical systems for refining nickel and other important minerals, including cobalt, copper, and rare earths. About a year ago, the company started production at a facility in Ohio that can process up to 3,100 tons of scrap. Now, Nth Cycle has a $1.1 billion deal with retailer Trafigura to quadruple that investment.

The new agreement marks a shift in the way companies evaluate their steel supply chains – and how technology can transform them.

Today, not only metal refining is done overseas, but also recycling. When batteries reach the end of their life, they are sent elsewhere for repair. “These are the most important things that we are currently exporting to China. You don’t want to give up valuable things and then buy them again,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor did not realize this alone. Another company, Westwin Elements, operates a small refinery in Oklahoma and is trying to expand a new facility in Georgia, although it has meet the opposition There.

Nth Cycle thinks the answer is its electronic version. “You can’t translate traditional cleaning, which works well overseas, to all parts of Asia,” O’Connor said. “You translate that here and it’s very difficult.”

The startup works with recyclers to find black mass — a mishmash of metals from broken batteries — and other sources of nickel such as byproducts from the oil and gas industry. He then feeds it into his electrochemical system which is five to ten times smaller than a traditional refinery. Because the system is small, Nth Cycle says it cuts operating costs, making it more profitable.

“Our system can operate profitably up to 6,000 tons per year,” O’Connor said.

That small number is important. Although there will eventually be a wave of EV batteries that need to be recycled and re-refined with metal, it has not yet been produced and is unlikely to be before the end of the decade. One of the biggest players in the battery recycling space, Redwood Materials, though he started a separate phase to recycle old batteries instead of recycling them after his teams realized that the cells had more life.

For now, O’Connor is confident that there is enough material available in the US and Europe to supply the two new devices he is building. Facilities in South Carolina and the Netherlands can process up to 18,000 tons of waste. The structure is changing, Nth Cycle says it can change the way it is.

Other methods, O’Connor said, rely too much on raw materials to compete with Asian processors, leaving them vulnerable until the amount of waste increases. He said Nth Cycle can add modules as battery waste grows.

“That’s how you adapt and get the power to refine here (in the US) – you match the volume,” he said.