American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ: ABAT) is an integrated critical battery materials company headquartered in Reno, Nevada. ABTC has pioneered first-of-kind technologies to recover and manufacture battery-grade metals from recycled lithium-ion batteries and domestic primary resources — reducing America’s dependence on foreign-sourced minerals extracted under conditions that frequently involve forced labor and ecocide.
Not For Sale’s partnership with ABTC reflects a shared conviction: the circular economy for critical minerals is not just an environmental imperative. It is an anti-trafficking imperative. Every battery recycled domestically is demand that does not flow to the artisanal mining pits of the DRC, where child labor and forced labor remain endemic.
What ABTC Does
ABTC operates a commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Nevada, using its proprietary closed-loop process to recover lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese from spent batteries. The company also holds one of the largest known lithium deposits in the United States at its Tonopah Flats project, with 2.73 million tonnes of proven and probable lithium reserves.
In December 2024, ABTC received $144 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding to build a second commercial-scale recycling facility designed to process 100,000 tonnes of battery materials per year. Strategic partnerships with BASF and Call2Recycle position ABTC at the center of the North American battery circular economy.
Why ABTC Matters to the NFS Mission
ABTC, alongside Regenerate Technology Global and M2i Global, represents Not For Sale’s commitment to reshaping the mineral supply chains most connected to human trafficking and environmental destruction. The three companies approach the same problem from different angles: Regenerate closes the loop in the EU, ABTC scales domestic recycling in the U.S., and M2i addresses sourcing policy and technology across the system.
Together, they represent the most comprehensive social innovation response to the minerals-trafficking nexus in the anti-trafficking sector.
