Environment solution: New metals refinery for nickel and cobalt opens in Ohio

Mining raw materials, like nickel, for batteries harms the environment, and new mines are very difficult to get approved, so the search is on to recycle metals that have already come out of the earth. On Monday, metals recycler Nth Cycle will open a new plant in Fairfield, Ohio, that recycles nickel and cobalt out of scrap from battery manufacturing. Experts say it’s an important step toward creating a circular economy. Critical minerals are essential to batteries for addressing climate change. The U.S. only has one nickel mine, in Michigan, with the rest of the metal coming mostly from Indonesia.