17 min

Megan O'Connor, Founder and CEO of nTh Cycle, on disruptive recycling technology--and an alternative commodity market-- for lithium-ion batteries Investable Universe

    • Business News

By 2030, there will be over 15 million tons of lithium-ion batteries ready for recycling, containing over $18bn just in the battery element cobalt. But while recycling seems like a no-brainer, current chemical-based battery recycling methods can leave a damaging and corrosive environmental footprint, not unlike extractive industry. It's a problem--but one that this week's guest is ready to solve. She is Megan O’Connor, Co-Founder and CEO of nTh cycle, a Boston-area startup that has developed a modular, electric solution to sustainably recycle lithium-ion battery materials. She holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University and is a graduate of the second cohort of the Innovation Crossroads program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In this episode, she discusses nTh cycle's technology, the challenge of EV battery recycling, and what may soon be the emergence of an alternative, tradable commodity market for recycled battery materials. 

By 2030, there will be over 15 million tons of lithium-ion batteries ready for recycling, containing over $18bn just in the battery element cobalt. But while recycling seems like a no-brainer, current chemical-based battery recycling methods can leave a damaging and corrosive environmental footprint, not unlike extractive industry. It's a problem--but one that this week's guest is ready to solve. She is Megan O’Connor, Co-Founder and CEO of nTh cycle, a Boston-area startup that has developed a modular, electric solution to sustainably recycle lithium-ion battery materials. She holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University and is a graduate of the second cohort of the Innovation Crossroads program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In this episode, she discusses nTh cycle's technology, the challenge of EV battery recycling, and what may soon be the emergence of an alternative, tradable commodity market for recycled battery materials. 

17 min