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Li-Cycle Stock: A Risky Play on Lithium Battery Recycling

Scarcity is the name of the latest game toying with the global economy. It’s why people are sawing off catalytic converters from the underbelly of vehicles and why Britons are stuck in long lines waiting to fill up their cars with petrol (as they say in merry old England). But the biggest headline in the automotive industry this year has been the scarcity of semiconductor chips, which is why one of our MBAs still drives a car with a tape deck. The shortage is expected to cost the industry north of $200 billion in lost revenue. But, of course, an even bigger crisis looms: More than 18 million electric vehicles will never be built between 2022 and 2029 because of an impending shortage of battery cells.

The dominant battery today is lithium ion, but the metals, minerals, and other materials that go into their manufacture are generally not easy or cheap to source, process, or manufacture. That’s why we’ve largely avoided the whole theme of investing in lithium, a volatile and dirty commodity filled with far too much risk. On the other hand, pretty much every market report being cranked out in sweatshops around the world projects electric vehicle sales will accelerate significantly over the next decade. From one of the more reliable sources (Deloitte), EVs will account for

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