Cirba Solutions is a company specializing in battery recycling materials and management. The company focuses on the sustainable recovery of critical materials from end-of-life batteries, including lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) and other formats, and supplies these materials back into the supply chain. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cirba Solutions CEO and President David Klanecky to learn more about the company.
David Klanecky’s Background
What is David Klanecky’s background? Klanecky said:
“As the premier battery recycling materials and management company, I have been honored to be at the helm of Cirba Solutions since 2022. During my tenure with Cirba Solutions, our team has executed a successful capital raise, securing about $300 million, and was awarded three significant DOE grants for more than $282 million, which is going to directly support the build out of a diversified critical minerals infrastructure for a stable and resilient domestic supply chain in North America.”
“Before stepping into this role, I served as the Executive VP and COO at Piedmont Lithium, where I helped build one of North America’s largest lithium companies, I spent eight years with the Albemarle Corporation, one of the world’s top lithium producers, and had an amazing 20-year career with The Dow Chemical Company that spanned the globe.”
“A priority of mine is coordinating with both private and public sectors to focus on expanding the operational and technology capabilities to support the growing needs of the domestic circular battery supply chain.”
Core Products
Can you describe the company’s core products and features? Klanecky explained:
“Cirba Solutions is a leader in battery recycling that recovers critical minerals from end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap to be refined into battery-grade metal salts that can be put back into the domestic supply chain. We are creating a closed-loop approach by integrating recycling manufacturing to strengthen the critical materials market. Recycling is a complement to mining. These critical minerals are extracted from the earth and used in battery applications. It is our responsibility to ensure that at the end-of-life, those critical minerals can be recovered and reused. Our hydrometallurgical process has a more than 95% recycling recovery rate for lithium-ion that can be reused over and over again, contributing to the stability of the domestic supply of critical materials.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What sets the company apart from its competitors? Klanecky affirmed:
“At Cirba Solutions, our people, our operational footprint, and our ability to be a trusted partner to our customers set us apart. We provide exceptional services and utilize advanced technology to move the industry forward. We have a proven track record that spans more than 30 years in battery recycling and the processing of critical materials. We are the only company excelling across the full spectrum of collection, processing, and material recovery. Solidifying our leadership, we have the largest operational footprint across North America, with six facilities and a seventh underway in South Carolina. We have been processing lithium-ion at a commercial scale since 2015 and are expanding both capacity in North America and bringing refined critical materials to the market.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges has Klanecky and the team faced in building the company? Klanecky acknowledged:
“Certainly. One of the biggest challenges we face as a sector is the U.S.’s reliance on critical minerals from foreign-controlled entities, which impacts our national security and global competitiveness. Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC) dominate the critical mineral refinement market, and we need to put short-term levers in place domestically to incentivize the use of those materials within our borders to become globally competitive. At Cirba Solutions, we’re tackling this by increasing domestic recycling efforts to develop a more resilient critical minerals supply chain. Our advanced recycling technology process and vertically integrated model are essential for stabilizing the supply of critical minerals.”
“Additionally, we need to diversify our domestic supply chain of critical minerals to ensure the most efficient use of these metals. Key battery materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese need to be secured domestically. The recycling and recovery of these materials is possible today if we support the battery recycling industry. To achieve this, both public and private entities must work together so that critical minerals do not end up in landfills or overseas.”
“Furthermore, as the battery industry continues to grow, the importance of developing a closed-loop raw material supply chain has never been more critical. From the valuable waste generated at cell manufacturing plants to the end-of-life batteries coming off the roads and grids, there is a tremendous opportunity to recover those metals domestically and reuse them in the production of new batteries. To do this successfully, and with today’s metal prices on the London Metal Exchange, there needs to be a high enough return on invested capital.”
Future Growth
How is the company positioning itself for future growth and sustainability in the battery recycling industry? Klanecky emphasized:
“We are positioning ourselves for future growth and sustainability by expanding our operational capacity and strengthening the domestic supply of critical materials. We are currently in the middle of a large expansion at our Ohio lithium-ion processing campus. When complete, it will produce enough battery-grade salts to power more than 250,000 large-format batteries annually. We’re also building a new South Carolina site, supported by a $200 million Department of Energy grant, which will process 60,000 tons of batteries each year, producing materials for more than 500,000 large-format batteries annually.”
Additional Thoughts
So what’s next? Klanecky concluded:
“At our Ohio lithium-ion processing campus, we recently increased our capacity by 300%, with plans to increase it by another 300% in 2025. Our South Carolina facility will further reduce reliance on foreign sources and enhance U.S. energy security while creating generational jobs. These projects will drive Cirba Solutions’ continued leadership in the critical minerals market and position us and the nation for long-term success in the industry.”
