R3 Lithium Starts Operations at Georgia Facility to Produce Lithium Carbonate from Recycled Batteries

R3 Lithium has initiated operations at a 154,000-square-foot facility in Covington, Georgia, to produce lithium carbonate from 100% recycled battery materials, as the company moves to establish a domestic source of recycled lithium for the U.S. battery supply chain. The company also announced US$15 million in Series A funding from investors including Integral GlobalTech Partners, TDK Ventures and Axial Partners.

R3 Lithium acquired the Covington facility in July 2026 and retained the team that demonstrated commercial-scale production of lithium carbonate from fully recycled feedstock at the site in 2025. The company said the facility is the first in North America to demonstrate commercial-scale lithium carbonate production from 100% recycled battery materials.

The new funding will be used to upgrade the existing lithium carbonate production line and support its transition to continuous commercial operation. The plant has annual shredding capacity of 30,000 metric tons and an existing lithium carbonate production line with capacity of 2,500 metric tons per year. Space has also been allocated for a second 2,500-metric-ton line.

R3 Lithium uses a calciner-based crystallization and water-based precipitation process to recover lithium directly from black mass at the Covington site. The integrated operation processes battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries into black mass before extracting lithium and producing lithium carbonate on the same site. The remaining concentrated metal oxide contains materials including nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite, which can be sold separately for downstream processing.

The company said its existing production line previously achieved 99% purity lithium carbonate from 100% recycled content at production scale. R3 Lithium also has approximately US$1 billion in signed offtake agreements and plans to expand its operations through a network of lithium carbonate and black mass processing facilities in North America and Europe.

“R3 Lithium is here today, with a proven facility that has already produced the product, the team that made it happen, and the capital needed to upgrade the line and keep it running, at commercial scale,” said Linh Austin, President and CEO of R3 Lithium.

The Covington operation is designed to return recovered lithium to the domestic battery supply chain without relying on primary mining or overseas refining for the lithium recovery stage. The company said its approach is intended to complement primary lithium supply by recovering material from batteries already in circulation.

R3 Lithium said it expects the Covington facility to account for more than 50% of U.S. lithium carbonate production in 2027. That is a company projection and will depend on the facility reaching continuous commercial operation and broader market conditions.

The company plans to use modular 5,000-metric-ton-per-year units for future lithium carbonate and black mass processing facilities, with additional capacity intended to be supported by offtake agreements. The Covington site is positioned as the starting point for this expansion strategy.

Source: R3 Lithium

SUNSHINE Spotlight: R3 Lithium has begun operations at its Covington, Georgia facility, which can process 30,000 metric tons of battery materials annually and produce 2,500 metric tons of lithium carbonate from recycled feedstock.