The São Paulo startup turning industrial waste into grid-scale battery power

Walk into the converted warehouse on Rua Gusmão, in Vila Leopoldina's industrial corridor, and you'll find something unusual for São Paulo: a closed-loop battery recycling operation that's catching the attention of major utilities across South America.

EletroSíntese, founded in 2023 by three engineers who previously worked in automotive supply chains, has spent the last 18 months perfecting a hydrometallurgical process that recovers up to 98% of lithium, cobalt, and nickel from spent batteries—materials that currently cost between R$850 and R$1,200 per kilogram on global markets. Their innovation isn't revolutionary in itself; what sets them apart is the speed and cost efficiency they've achieved at scale, and crucially, their willingness to operate within Brazil's fragmented regulatory environment.

São Paulo generates roughly 120,000 tonnes of electronic waste annually, according to the Institute of Technological Research (IPT). Of that, batteries represent an increasingly significant fraction as solar installations and backup power systems proliferate across the state. Until recently, most spent cells were either stockpiled or shipped illegally to neighbouring countries. EletroSíntese's operation, which currently processes 15 tonnes per month, is one of fewer than five certified facilities in Brazil capable of handling this at commercial scale.

The company has signed partnerships with two major solar installers operating in the Zona Leste and Zona Oeste, and is in advanced talks with AES Tietê, one of Brazil's largest independent power producers, to establish a circular supply chain for their grid-storage projects. A pilot programme running since March has recovered enough material to manufacture roughly 2,000 kWh of usable battery modules—enough to power approximately 40 São Paulo households for a year.

What's significant here isn't just the environmental angle, though that matters: recovered lithium costs roughly 30% less than virgin extraction, a margin that's starting to shift economics for renewable energy projects across South America. In a region where energy costs remain a competitive concern, and where political pressure to demonstrate local value-add is intense, EletroSíntese represents the kind of infrastructure that's often invisible but increasingly essential.

The company is raising a Series A round this quarter—conversations are ongoing with both international climate funds and local venture capital. If successful, they plan to expand to 100 tonnes monthly capacity by 2027, a scale that would position São Paulo as a genuine hub for battery circularity rather than simply a consumer of imported technology.

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