One of the few things many people don’t know is that Tesla designed and developed an in-house lithium-ion battery recycling platform for both its production scrap and any end-of-life batteries it receives. Many investors in lithium-ion recycling startups still hold out hope that Tesla will eventually acquire the company they invested in.

I used to talk to a technician who worked in the recycling lab when Tesla first started developing its recycling processing platform. He was always careful not to share details—even when I gave him beer, he stayed tight-lipped—but he did say that the process at least broke even. Moreover once they figured out how the production line could “sell” scrap to the recycling line and vice versa, it had the potential to save the company a lot of time and money.

So while details have always been few and far between on the actual process, it was safe to say that anywhere Tesla had batteries being produced in the United States, you would find that recycling platform. This, however, is the first time I’ve read that Tesla is planning a facility with recycling as the main goal, but details are even more scarce. I found a couple of sources that just refer to it as a battery production site. Most of the coverage just focuses on the dislike for Elon in Australia, and I don’t know how accurate that is. Maybe an Australian could weigh in on that.

The latest update about this project is that the city council of Marion Australia has approved the location which in the small suburb called Tonsley. There was community support for the project, but also protest backed by an environmental group. The articles do say that the site will employ 100 people, which is more in line with a recycling facility than a gigafactory.

timesofindia.indiatimes…