As governments and vehicle manufacturers take steps to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles to meet carbon emissions reduction targets, demand for lithium is soaring to the point where lithium shortages are already being forecasted for the near term. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has predicted that there will be deficits of lithium as early as this year. The price of lithium has also been dramatically affected, increasing by more than 300 percent in 2021. It currently stands at approximately $58,000 a metric tonne. Increased mining activity alone cannot mitigate the shortages. Mining is environmentally costly and takes five to seven years to get operational; recycling is critical to meet future demand.

"Morningstar, Inc. has predicted that lithium-ion demand will likely outstrip production within the next five years, and demand for lithium will only continue to skyrocket as the world transitions from fossil fuels to a renewable energy economy," said David Regan, Aqua Metal's vice president of commercial. "As of today, the only commercially proven recycling technology for lithium-ion batteries is smelting, which has a negative environmental impact and does not recover the lithium or manganese. Applying the proven AquaRefining process to lithium-ion batteries has the potential to be an important industry breakthrough, as we believe it is the only truly sustainable recycling technology under development that recovers all the valuable metals and compounds without using high heat or consuming massive quantities of chemicals that create difficult to manage waste streams."

Recycling Today. 2022. Aqua Metals produces lithium hydroxide from black mass.<https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/aqua-metals-recovers-lithium-hydroxide-black-mass/> 

MarketWatch. 2022. Global Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate Market 2022 Growth Analysis, Industry Trends, Sales Revenue, Future Development Status and Forecast by 2028. Available at: <https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/global-lithium-hydroxide-monohydrate-market-2022-growth-analysis-industry-trends-sales-revenue-future-development-status-and-forecast-by-2028-2022-01-30> 

MarketWatch. 2022. Global Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate Market 2022 Growth Analysis, Industry Trends, Sales Revenue, Future Development Status and Forecast by 2028. [online] Available at: <https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/global-lithium-hydroxide-monohydrate-market-2022-growth-analysis-industry-trends-sales-revenue-future-development-status-and-forecast-by-2028-2022-01-30>