EV battery industry leaders and local officials
joined Elemental Strategic Metals and Ascend Elements in Zawiercie,
Poland to celebrate the grand
opening of Europe's newest
lithium-ion battery recycling facility.
WESTBOROUGH, Mass. and ZAWIERCIE, Poland, Sept. 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AE Elemental, a joint
venture of U.S.-based Ascend Elements and Poland-based Elemental Strategic Metals, today
celebrated the grand opening of its first commercial-scale EV
battery recycling facility. Located in Zawiercie, Poland, the newly constructed facility can
process 12,000 metric tons of used Li-ion batteries each year – or
approximately 28,000 EV battery packs annually – making it one of
the largest battery recycling facilities in Europe. Dozens of business and community
leaders from Europe and
North America attended the opening
ceremony and toured the state-of-the-art facility.
In the European Union (EU), new batteries
will be required to contain a minimum amount of recycled content by
2030.
As demand for electric vehicles continues to grow, lithium-ion
battery recycling is becoming an increasingly important part of the
EV battery materials supply chain. In the European Union (EU), new
batteries will be required to contain a minimum amount of recycled
content by 2030. Lithium-ion battery recycling also keeps hazardous
battery materials out of landfills while minimizing the
environmental impacts associated with nickel, cobalt and lithium
mining.
"We have come significantly closer to becoming a global leader
in the market of recycling materials necessary to produce EV
batteries," said Michał Zygmunt, CEO of Elemental Strategic Metals.
"As part of our contribution to the joint venture with a reputable
American partner, we make available a state-of-the-art industrial
downstream processing facility in Zawiercie and one of the most
developed networks of waste collection points in Europe with broad knowledge and experience in
the field of recycling and waste logistics."
The AE Elemental facility will disassemble, discharge and shred
EV batteries to produce black mass, which can be used to make new
engineered EV battery materials, including cathode active material
(CAM) and cathode precursor (pCAM). Commercial-scale lithium
extraction capabilities will be added to the new facility in Fall
2024 to be operational by 2026.
"This is a significant milestone for Ascend Elements,
representing our first commercial-scale battery recycling facility
in Europe. We're pleased to be
working closely with Elemental Strategic Metals in this beautiful
facility," said Mike O'Kronley, CEO
of Ascend Elements. "Expanding into Europe will allow us to better service our
customers locally and help the industry comply with new EU rules
requiring recycled material in new batteries."
Beyond Poland, the joint
venture is planning to build Europe's largest lithium-ion battery recycling
facility in Germany. The planned
AE Elemental facility in Germany
will have the capacity to recycle up to 25,000 metric tons of
batteries per year, or approximately 58,000 EVs annually.
ABOUT ELEMENTAL STRATEGIC METALS: Elemental Strategic
Metals is member of Elemental Group and operates a large,
state-of-the-art multi-metal extraction facility in Poland focused on recovery of battery metals
and platinum group metals. Elemental Group is a global leader in
urban mining, with a focus on extracting strategic metals from
various recycled metal sources such as spent automotive catalysts
(SACs), waste electrical and electronic equipment, printed circuit
boards (PCBs), used Li-Ion batteries, and non-ferrous scrap metal.
The company recovers strategic metals such as platinum group
metals, copper, and other base and precious metals in an
environmentally friendly way. Elemental currently has subsidiaries
in 35 countries on four continents (Europe, Asia,
North America and Africa).
ABOUT ASCEND ELEMENTS: Based in Westborough, Mass., Ascend Elements is a
leading provider of sustainable, closed-loop battery material
solutions. From EV battery recycling to commercial-scale production
of lithium-ion battery pCAM and CAM, Ascend Elements is
revolutionizing the production of sustainable lithium-ion battery
materials. Its Hydro-to-Cathode® direct precursor
synthesis technology produces new pCAM and CAM from spent
lithium-ion cells more efficiently than traditional methods,
resulting in improved economics and lowered GHG emissions. With
fewer batteries going to landfill and a cleaner manufacturing
process, Ascend Elements is lifting the lithium-ion battery
industry to a higher level of sustainability.
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SOURCE Ascend Elements