Home

Perth-bred Leon Farrant to rejuvenate the lithium battery sector with Green Li-ion

Headshot of Cheyanne Enciso
Cheyanne EncisoThe West Australian
CommentsComments
Green Li-ion co-founders Leon Farrant and Reza Katal.
Camera IconGreen Li-ion co-founders Leon Farrant and Reza Katal. Credit: Supplied/Green Li-ion

Perth-bred Leon Farrant plans to fill a niche in the battery recycling market, saying the global green energy transition will drive increasing interest in the re-use of the energy source.

Mr Farrant had worked in the WA energy sector for 15 years, specifically in the wind farm space, when he realised renewable energy was dependent on batteries to feed the electrical grid.

“When you find that out, you go down a rabbit hole and try figure out if we have enough batteries in the world,” Mr Farrant said.

“The answer is no. Not only that, there is a finite amount of resources to build batteries, specifically cobalt and nickel.”

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

Mr Farrant co-founded Singapore-based battery recycling solutions company Green Li-ion in 2019 with Reza Katal, both pictured, to support the green energy transition.

“The problems that we need to solve are finding enough material to keep producing the batteries we require for the energy transition and EVs, and to stop 95 per cent of batteries going into landfill,” Mr Farrant said.

The company designs and produces machinery to recycle lithium-ion and alternative batteries used in EVs, smartphones and other electronic devices.

It processes two metric tonnes of crushed battery materials per day, which is equivalent to about 56,000 iPhones. Mr Farrant, who moved to Singapore in 2011, said the company was in the process of re-establishing a presence in Perth after it was appointed as the technology partner for the Bentley-based Future Battery Industries Co-operative Research Centre.

It aims to deliver its first recycling machinery for the research institute in mid-2023.

Pointing to a recent study published in the Journal of the Indian Institute of Science that revealed a one per cent recycling rate on lithium batteries globally, Mr Farrant said it was exciting to be part of a market in its infancy.

“With the volumes globally of spent lithium-ion batteries starting to skyrocket, the importance of recycling is becoming more needed and we want to be key players,” Mr Farrant said.

The company completed an $US11.5 million ($16.4m) funding round in April led by London-based energy-tech venture capital Energy Revolution Ventures.

The funding round surpassed the $US10m ($14.3m) target announced earlier in the year.

The company has clients across the globe, including the US, UK, Mexico and Asia.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails