A significant number of Li-Cycle employees at its head office and two factories are out of a job.
Li-Cycle, a battery recycling plant, is laying off 75 workers at its Kingston, Toronto and Rochester, N.Y., locations.
Li-Cycle confirmed to Global News that 30 employees in Kingston are being let go — nearly half of the total number of layoffs.
According to Li-Cycle, these layoffs were made after an internal review.
“As part of the review, and in line with operating as efficiently as possible, we have made the difficult decision to pause processing of batteries at our Ontario Spoke,” says Li-Cycle vice-president of marketing and communications Louie Diaz.
Li-Cycle is currently building a $485-million facility in Rochester, and due to these layoffs, the construction company building the factory has laid off 102 of its workers on the project.
The company’s Kingston location had been the recipient of much praise from the federal government in recent months, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visiting the plant in March.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland also paid a visit last month.
It remains unclear what the future of Li-Cycle holds, and whether the Kingston location will be keeping its doors open.