We help you build the plant, not just trade what comes out of it.
Circle8 works with recyclers, refiners and investors to set up black mass processing plants and hydrometallurgy plants in India — from feasibility through commissioning, backed by a real feedstock network and a real route to market for what the plant produces.
- 35-recycler feedstock network
- Feedstock and offtake, not advisory alone
- EPR, CPCB/SPCB compliance support
- India-based team
India’s battery scrap volumes are about to outgrow its processing capacity
Most end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and black mass generated in India today still travel a long way before their metals are recovered — some of it exported raw, taking cobalt, nickel, lithium and manganese value out of the country with it.
Feedstock is scaling fast
EV and consumer battery volumes sold over the last decade are now reaching end of life, and industrial/EV scrap is growing alongside them — the feedstock a plant needs is arriving.
Policy is pushing domestic recovery
India's EPR framework for batteries puts the obligation to recycle end-of-life batteries domestically, and critical-mineral import substitution is a stated policy priority.
The value should stay in India
Every tonne of black mass or scrap exported unprocessed is metal value — and jobs — leaving the country. Local processing and refining capacity captures both.
Two plants, one supply chain behind both
Battery recycling happens in two distinct stages. Circle8 can help you set up either one, or both, and backs each with real feedstock and a route to market through TradeHub and BMx.
Black mass processing plant
Discharge, dismantling, shredding and separation — the pre-treatment stage that turns whole scrap batteries into black mass and recovered metals.
- Inputs: end-of-life and scrap lithium-ion batteries across LFP, NMC, LCO and mixed chemistries.
- Process: discharge, dismantling, shredding, size classification, magnetic and eddy-current separation.
- Outputs: black mass concentrate, plus recovered copper, aluminium and steel fractions for sale.
- Circle8’s role: feedstock commitment from our recycler network, technology and equipment partner selection, safety design for thermal-runaway risk, and an offtake route for the black mass through BMx.
Hydrometallurgy plant
Leaching and chemical extraction — the stage that turns black mass into the battery-grade metal salts that go back into new cells.
- Inputs: black mass, graded and assayed by chemistry.
- Process: acid or alkaline leaching, impurity removal, solvent extraction and/or chemical precipitation.
- Outputs: battery-grade lithium carbonate/hydroxide, nickel sulphate, cobalt sulphate and manganese sulphate.
- Circle8’s role: process and technology selection matched to your feedstock mix, plant design support, a graded black mass supply through BMx, and market access for the recovered metal salts.
From feasibility to a running plant
- 01
Feasibility & feedstock study
We assess local feedstock availability, the chemistry mix you can realistically expect, and a capacity that matches what our network can actually commit to supplying.
- 02
Technology & partner selection
We help match process technology to your feedstock and output targets, and connect you with equipment and technology partners suited to the plant you're building.
- 03
Design, engineering & permitting
Plant layout and safety design, plus support through CPCB/SPCB consent applications, hazardous-waste authorisations and EPR registration.
- 04
Construction & commissioning
Support through procurement, construction oversight and commissioning, so the plant ramps up against a realistic timeline rather than a guess.
- 05
Ongoing feedstock & offtake
Once the plant is running, it isn't left to find its own supply or its own buyer — feedstock keeps flowing through TradeHub and BMx, and BMx gives the plant's output a route to market.
We’re not a consultancy that leaves once the report is delivered
Real feedstock, not just advice
We already work with 35 recyclers and have supplied 930 MT of lithium-ion battery scrap. A plant we help set up starts with a real supply relationship, not a slide about one.
We own the benchmark
BMx's payable index gives a transparent, chemistry-wise price reference for both the black mass a plant buys and the black mass or metal salts it sells — so pricing isn't a black box on either side.
The bridge between recycler and refiner
Circle8's position between R2 recyclers and R4 refiners means a plant we help build isn't stranded between the two — sourcing and offtake are part of the same relationship.
Common questions
01What size of plant can Circle8 help set up?
02Does Circle8 invest in the plant, or only advise?
03Which battery chemistries can be processed?
04Do you help with regulatory approvals?
05Do I need to already have feedstock lined up?
Considering a black mass or hydrometallurgy plant?
Tell us a bit about your project and we’ll get back to you.
Building a plant is a longer conversation than a form.
Talk to our team about your feedstock, your site, and what you’re trying to build.