Iondrive Partners with Livium to Advance DES Technology for Clean Waste Recycling

Iondrive (ASX: ION) has signed an agreement with Livium (ASX: LIT) to advance the recycling of clean energy waste using Iondrive’s innovative deep eutectic solvent (DES) technology.

Under the terms of the deal, Livium will supply Iondrive with crushed photovoltaic (PV) solar panel cells, lithium-ion battery black mass, and rare earth element (REE) magnets to support the evaluation DES recovery pathways and commercial scalability.

Testing of the novel process has already demonstrated recovery rates of more than 95% and the potential to offer a sustainable, closed-loop alternative to conventional methods.

Complementary Process

Livium operates Australian recycling company Envirostream, which has advanced lithium-ion battery collection systems and a growing focus on solar panel recycling and e-waste processing.

Iondrive’s DES process has the potential to complement Envirostream’s work by extracting additional value from these waste streams, while addressing environmental and supply chain challenges.

The collaboration leverages Livium’s national recycling network, providing Iondrive with a direct scale-up pathway across battery, solar and e-waste markets.

“This agreement aligns perfectly with our strategy to target battery, solar and magnet recycling—markets where sustainable solutions for recovering valuable metals are urgently needed,” Iondrive chief executive officer Ebbe Dommisse said.

Adjacent E-Waste Opportunities

The partnership is also a significant step towards strengthening each company’s capabilities across a range of adjacent e-waste recycling market opportunities—solar panel recycling, in particular, with estimates forecasting as much as 100,000 tonnes of annual PV waste generation globally by 2030.

Australia stands to unlock over $1 billion in recoverable materials from end-of-life solar panels by 2035, presenting a major opportunity to secure a local supply of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

The market for lithium-ion battery recycling represents another major growth opportunity, as black mass is also rich in critical minerals.

The global black mass market was worth $21.6b in 2024 and analysts project it to surge to $77.4b by 2032, driven by the adoption of EVs and a global push for sustainable supply chains.

REE Recycling Business Case

Growing e-waste streams are creating a business case for REE recycling in a market projected to surpass $632 million by 2026, on the back of demand for magnets, along with a global push to reduce reliance on primary REE mining and strengthen supply chain security.

Despite current recycling rates of less than 1%, the high value and critical importance of REE should create a strong commercial incentive for domestic companies to develop innovative recycling solutions, ultimately helping close the loop on Australia’s strategic mineral supply.

The companies expect to commence negotiations of binding commercial agreements for the supply and co-location of DES processing units within 21 months.