In response to the global climate crisis, electrification of the transportation sector has been considered one of the best responses to target net zero emissions by 2050. This has prompted several car manufacturers (OEMs) to increase electric vehicle (EV) production, which puts a strain in lithium battery (LIB) material supply chains. In this context, LIB material recycling becomes critical. Recycling not only contributes to material supply but also releases four times lower carbon emissions vis-à-vis primary source metal extraction. Currently, two recycling processes are industrially used: hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy. These processing pathways have many challenges such as low recovery rates by pyrometallurgy and large waste generation by hydrometallurgy. Recently, a third recycling pathway has been proposed involving direct recycling of the cathode active material (CAM) like NMC cathodes (LiNixMnyCozO2). This nondestructive recycling approach allows for cathodes—not fully degraded—to be regenerated for reuse but also be upcycled into next-generation Ni-rich NMC cathode materials. In this work, the baseline of this pathway is demonstrated in a lab investigation with chemically delithiated cathodes. The process tested involved hydrothermal relithiation and calcination/annealing. Results will be presented as proof-of-concept demonstrating the direct recycling of NMC 111 and NMC 622 as well as the upcycling of NMC 111 to NMC 622 via co-addition of Li2CO3 and NiSO4.6H2O during calcination.