Partnership Between Lithion Recycling and Girardin Bus for the Recycling of Electric School Buses Batteries

Anjou and Drummondville, QC, October 20, 2021 – Girardin, Quebec leader in the electrification of school bus transportation, is proud to announce that is has reached an agreement with Quebec-based company Lithion Recycling to recycle Girardin’s electric school bus batteries.

The purpose of this agreement is to recover and recycle in a responsible and environmentally-friendly manner the high-voltage batteries of Blue Bird and Micro Bird buses and therefore, minimize the environmental footprint of school buses. The signing of this agreement will allow Girardin to continue improving its envrionmental practices and reducing its ecological footprint since 95% of the battery components of its electric buses can be recovered by Lithion Recycling.

« As a leader in electrification of school bus transportation in Quebec, Girardin completes its electric ecosystem. We are impressed by Lithion Recycling’s innovative processes, which recover 95% of battery components for reuse by manufacturers, while minimizing environmental impacts at a bus’ end-of-life.»

– Michel Daneault, Vice-President Sales and Service – Eastern Canada, Girardin in Drummondville

« We are proud to announce this partnership with Girardin, a Quebec leader in the electrification of school bus transportation. This agreement promotes Quebec’s development in electrified transportation sectors in addition to providing our local manufacturers with an additional competitive advantage in terms of sustainable development and their carbon footprint.»

– Yves Noël, Vice-President and Chief Business Development Officer, Lithion Recycling

Girardin, with its partners Blue Bird / Cummins Power Drive and Micro Bird / Ecotuned Technologies, offers a complete line of Type A, C and D 100% electric school buses, including electric heating, for an additional reduction in GHGs. The entire line is supported by an outstanding after-sales service team. Furthermore, Girardin offers a full turn-key operation, including the installation of charging infrastructure, which facilitates the transition to electric school buses for its Quebec customers.

About Girardin:
Girardin, a Quebec company with its North American head office in Drummondville, has specialized in the manufacture, distribution, and operation of buses for over 62 years. Bringing together more than 40 companies mainly in Quebec, Ontario as well as in the states of New York and Connecticut in the United States, the Girardin group manufactures and distributes more than 5,000 buses per year, the majority of which are manufactured in Quebec. Girardin has to its credit nearly 3,000 members of its team, a large part of which in Quebec in the manufacture and distribution of school buses and electric school buses.
Girardin is a long-time partner and official distributor of BLUE BIRD school buses and MICRO BIRD minibuses, the latter being manufactured at its Drummondville plant. Strongly committed to the fight against climate change through the electrification of transport, Girardin offers the most complete range of electric school buses as well as a personalized support service for recharging infrastructure. Today, Girardin is the essential leader in alternative fuels (electric vehicles, propane and natural gas) in school, commercial, urban and adapted transport. Further information is available on the Girardin website: www.girardinbluebird.com

About Lithion Recycling Inc.:
Lithion Recycling has developed an efficient and cost-effective to recover strategic materials from end-of-life and product waste of lithium-ion batteries. Lithion’s process allows up to 95% of battery components to be recovered and treated so that they can be reused by battery manufacturers, enabling to close the lifecycle in batteries. This technology accelerates the transition to green energy and helps meet decarbonization targets by reducing pressure on natural resource extraction. In 2022-2023, Lithion is set to launch its first commercial recycling plant, drawing on data from a highly successful Quebec industrial-scale pilot plant created in 2019. Its goal is worldwide deployment, through licensing agreements, with a target of 20 recycling plants on a world scale. For more information, please visit: https://www.lithiontechnologies.com/

For more information, or to plan an interview, please communicate with:
Chloé Chagnon
Massy Forget Langlois Public Relations
514 743-6302
cchagnon@mflrp.ca