EGLE awards dollars to Michigan universities to grow Michigan’s clean energy economy, protect our natural resources

Today in Lansing, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced the awards of the Critical Minerals Grant, made available by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

The grants aim to advance the research, development, or demonstration of projects to create innovative and practical approaches to increase the reuse and recycling of batteries and other critical minerals through investments in Michigan’s universities and colleges. Today’s awards will spur innovation and strengthen Michigan’s critical mineral supply chain while protecting our natural resources and reliance on the extraction of new materials.

“Building a sustainable economy requires ingenuity and innovation from our scientists, entrepreneurs, and businesses,” said Phil Roos, EGLE director. “EGLE’s Critical Minerals Grants will support research and demonstration projects at our universities aimed at strengthening Michigan’s supply chain for the critical minerals needed for clean energy production while protecting our world-class land, air, and water resources. This is an important step in driving a more circular, sustainable economy.”

The Critical Minerals Grants were awarded to Michigan State University (MSU), the University of Michigan, and Lawrence Technological University’s Centrepolis Accelerator:

• Centrepolis Accelerator at Lawrence Technological University was awarded $2,282,667.67 to increase the purity of recyclable outputs and the efficiency and safety of processing batteries for critical mineral recovery by leveraging artificial intelligence technology to support the development and demonstration of automation used in disassembly, sorting, and processing of the end-of-life batteries from consumers, electric vehicles, and other products.
• University of Michigan was awarded $1,485,037 to develop and demonstrate a 500 kilowatt-level, grid-tied energy storage system using second-life batteries from electric vehicles. The project will result in a full-power onsite demonstration at the Flint/Saginaw Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee in Flint, Michigan.
• Michigan State University was awarded $706,014.63 to demonstrate an economic, scalable, and environmentally friendly route for recycling spent lithium-ion phosphate battery cathode materials with enhanced efficiency and effectiveness and evaluate the potential for manufacturing and engineering ceramic parts in Michigan.

“We are grateful to EGLE for this important award to help develop state-of-the-art automated battery disassembly and sorting systems,” said Centrepolis Accelerator CEO Dan Radomski. “This project is in partnership with Michigan-based recycling firms including Padnos, Great Lakes Recycling, and Michigan Goodwill Industries to utilize existing battery waste streams. It ensures they can benefit from the automation systems we develop from this project, including reducing battery scrap in Michigan landfills and providing a higher-margin recycling system for use in their operations.”

“We are excited to have the industrial support of Cirba Solutions to advance the crucial work of recycling spent LiFePO4 cathode materials from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and contribute to the circular economy in Michigan,” said MSU Professors Ruigang Wang and Annick Anctil.

These awards build on EGLE’s work to date to enhance recycling and build a more circular economy, including NextCycle Michigan, an initiative that advances businesses and projects that build capacity and markets for material recovery, reuse, and recycling in Michigan through partnerships, technical resources, and funding opportunities.