(Reuters) – Battery recycler Li-Cycle Holdings Corp said on Tuesday it planned to develop a recycling hub in Italy along with Swiss miner and commodity trader Glencore (OTC:GLNCY) Plc to produce battery materials including lithium.

Canada-based Li-Cycle had earlier announced in March that it would be building a French battery processing facility amid rising demand for lithium due to its key role in transition towards net zero.

The two companies are expected to complete a joint feasibility study for the project by mid-2024, Li-Cycle said.

Once the companies make a final investment decision on the project, commissioning of the hub in Portovesme, Italy, is expected to commence in late 2026 to early 2027.

The Portovesme Hub is expected to have processing capacity of up to 50,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes of black mass annually, or the equivalent of up to 36 gigawatt hours of lithium-ion batteries, Li-Cycle added.

Glencore had announced an investment of $200 million into Li-Cycle last year.