By Michael Elkins
LiCycle Holdings Corp (NYSE:LICY) announced Monday that the Canadian-based company will build a facility in France to break down lithium-ion batteries from forklift manufacturer The Kion Group, giving Li-Cycle a fresh source of batteries to recycle beyond the consumer automobile market.
The new facility is expected to open in 2024 and complement similar sites under development in Germany and Norway.
Li-Cycle declined to disclose how much it is spending on the French operation, though the company has a $40 million budget for the year to build such battery processing facilities across the globe.
"We believe strongly in a regional approach to recycling as our customers begin to localize their own supply chains," said Li-Cycle executive chairman, Tim Johnston. "Europe continues to be a growth center for electrification, so we are going to continue to grow there."
The French announcement comes less than a month after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Li-Cycle's battery processing facility in Ontario.
Shares of LICY are up 1.23% in afternoon trading on Monday.