How “Black Sand” could help build a domestic battery supply chain

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When David Fauvre and his co-founder entered the battery space in 2015, they started as brokers exporting American battery waste to recycling partners in Korea and Japan. But as the industry grew, shipping companies increasingly refused to transport the hazardous materials, making it clear that the U.S. desperately needed its own domestic processing capabilities. Rather than attempting to build a fully integrated, end-to-end "closed loop" recycling system—an incredibly complex and capital-intensive endeavor—Blue Whale Materials is focusing on doing one thing exceptionally well: pre-processing. Using a specialized thermal system to burn off impurities, the company liberates critical minerals…