Access to black mass, the byproduct of mechanical recycling of lithium batteries that Tozero processes, is not restricted across borders. And on the competition front, Fleischer describes this as a “completely blue ocean market,” with battery recycling efforts mostly focused elsewhere. The startup says it can use black mass from any type of lithium-ion batteries so the waste streams can be mixed.

“Lithium will be always inside [the batteries for recycling], but the other elements are changing — with innovations in battery manufacturing — so we don’t care if there is nickel, or if it’s a few percent less or more, for example, cobalt, but lithium is always there,” said Milicevic Neumann.