Battery recycling is about to become one of the most important pieces of the clean energy transition. But before we can build a true circular economy, there's a problem hiding in plain sight.

Today's recycling process often starts by shredding batteries with different chemistries into the same stream, creating inconsistent feedstock that's harder to refine, harder to value, and harder to return to the supply chain.

Sheeba Dawood, CEO and co-founder of Minerva Lithium, believes the missing step comes before the shredder. Her team has developed battery chemical fingerprinting technology that identifies battery chemistry before processing, creating more consistent feedstock, improving traceability, and unlocking more value from recycled materials.

Along the way, we also explore Sheeba's journey from nanoscience researcher to entrepreneur, why she was carrying business cards as a PhD student, and what motivated her to turn laboratory research into a commercial technology.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why mixed battery chemistries make recycling far less efficient than most people realize

🔹 How chemical fingerprinting changes the economics of battery recycling

🔹 Why traceability could become the foundation of a domestic battery supply chain

🔹 How better battery identification can improve both safety and material recovery

If batteries are going to power the future, what happens at the end of their life matters just as much as how they're built. This conversation offers a fresh perspective on one of the industry's least understood challenges.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

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