August 2, 2024: Toronto-based lithium-ion battery recycler Li-Cycle has appointed Craig Cunningham as its new CEO, effective June 20. Cunningham has been interim CFO since March.

As CFO, he will continue to lead Li-Cycle’s finance function, supporting its operations and strategic priorities, the firm said. His succeeds from Debbie Simpson in the position.

In May Li-Cycle reported its net loss in Q1 2024 had widened to $136.7 million from $36.5 million in Q1 2023

His appointment follows announcement of a leadership shake-up in April and job cuts representing 17% of the firm’s workforce to generate about $10 million in cost savings on an annualized basis.

The restructuring came a week after the company said “significant additional funding” would be needed before it can restart construction of its planned Rochester, New York lithium battery recycling hub — as it revealed the cost estimate of the project had increased to $960 million.

President and CEO Ajay Kochhar said on March 26  the company was still focused on completing a technical and economic review of the future of Rochester, but said the firm also needed to form a centralized organization structure to increase efficiencies.

The company said at the time it expected to axe 60 jobs over the next 12 months.

Cunningham brings nearly two decades of experience in accounting, finance, operations and capital markets, along with a strong background in executive-level leadership. He also has experience spearheading financial activities for publicly traded companies in the battery materials and mining sectors.

Before joining Li-Cycle, Cunningham was CFO at Electra, a refiner and recycler focused on producing materials for EV batteries. Before that he was vice president and regional financial officer at Kinross Gold, one of the largest gold producers in the world. Here he oversaw finance, IT, supply chain and logistics and administration functions in Russia.