BlogRecycling process
By CMR Team·Aug 27, 2026·6 min read
A spent alkaline cell is a steel can, a brass current collector, and a zinc and manganese chemistry in the middle. Separation turns those back into three saleable streams, plus a small fraction that cannot be recovered.
The primary output, often called black mass. A fine zinc and manganese bearing concentrate recovered from the cell interior, sold on to downstream refiners and fertiliser feedstock buyers.
Clean shredded steel from the cans and casings, separated magnetically from the shredded stream and sold into standard ferrous scrap markets.
Non ferrous brass current collectors recovered during separation, graded and sold on to metal buyers.
A small remaining fraction cannot be recovered as marketable product. It is managed and disposed of responsibly, and it is the reason we quote a range rather than a single recovery figure.
85 to 95% by weight, across a processed load. We will not put a higher number in writing than we can stand behind.
Tell us the volume and the chemistry and we will walk you through what comes out the other end.
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Sep 24, 2026·6 min read
Four stages, all in one building in Phoenix: receiving, sorting by chemistry, size reduction, and separation into recovered products.
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Sep 3, 2026·4 min read
By hand and by an automated x ray based system, because a single lithium cell in a shredder is a fire.
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Sep 17, 2026·5 min read
Gaylords or drums on pallets, terminals protected, chemistries kept apart. What we check before a load moves.
Read moreTell us the volume, the chemistry and where it is sitting. We will come back with pricing and freight guidance.
