Bridge Green Upcycle officially launches its new infinity lab and prototype facility, becoming another company to contribute to the Lithium Ion Battery Ecosystem in the Southern Tier.

Bridge Green Upcycle has been a member of the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator for over two years. What the company does is produce high-grade black mass and high-purity precursor materials that can be used to produce new batteries.

Guests at today's ceremony had a chance to explore the steps of these processes during today's celebration during 8-minute tours.

"This might be a small gathering of important people, but we're not just starting a business, we are starting a movement. I truly firmly believe that we are starting a movement to extract critical minerals in this country so that we don't treat batteries the way we treat oil," said Bridge Green Upcycle CEO and Founder Balki Iyer.

The new state-of-the-art space on the Huron campus will be critical in bringing sustainable solutions to recycling and upcycling batteries.

Iyer said the company's process is safer than methods used in the past and will make clean energy in the form of Lithium Ion Batteries more sustainable. 

Explaining the process further, Iyer said, "It's about using a combination of mechanical and chemical processes that we have developed and filed some provisional patents to be able to extract these things in the highest purity form. And not only that, but we also have invested and developed our own digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, to support how we efficiently do this without having to incur a lot of costs."

Iyer said lithium-ion batteries are the future and he hopes his company will play a pivotal role in furthering circular economy growth in the battery industry right in the Southern Tier.

Iyer said, "There are very, very few times in your life as an entrepreneur that you actually build a business, but in the part of building the business, you're actually doing something for the planet, you're doing something for the country, and you're doing something for the region. I have the honor of being able to be apart of all of the above."

Iyer is a Binghamton University alumni and has been working in clean energy for 20+ years.

Iyer says they are still a few years out from being a fully functioning company but once they are, Green Bridge could employ more than 100 people.