Iondrive Limited has launched a new project in partnership with CSIRO to convert waste graphite from used lithium-ion batteries into anode-grade material, marking a development in its battery recycling commercialisation strategy.
The project, backed by grant funding from the Australian Government’s Graphite Research and Development Grant and CSIRO’s Kick-Start program, began on 1 July 2025 and is scheduled for completion in November.
With a total funding of $84,000, the initiative will complement Iondrive’s existing Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) platform, which recovers valuable cathode materials including lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese from battery waste, as revealed in an ASX announcement.
The program aims to upgrade recovered graphite – currently underutilised in battery recycling – into a commercially viable, battery-grade material.
Graphite accounts for about 50 per cent of the total mass of a typical lithium-ion battery, and the ability to convert this into a marketable product is expected to significantly enhance Iondrive’s economic model.
“This project aims to change that by producing anode-grade material, which adds both economic and environmental value to our platform,” said Iondrive CEO Ebbe Dommisse. “It’s another important step towards commercial readiness.”
The development follows Iondrive’s October 2024 announcement of a three-stage pretreatment process capable of recovering graphite while also improving metal recovery rates from black mass, the crushed material derived from spent batteries.
If the graphite recovery project proves successful, the resulting intellectual property will be exclusively licensed to Iondrive for global commercialisation on a royalty-free basis.
Iondrive said this could lead to a potential 25 per cent uplift in revenue from commercial-scale recycling operations.
“Graphite makes up a significant portion of battery waste and has traditionally been under-utilised in recycling,” Dommisse added.
