AE Elemental introduces an EV battery recycling facility 

By Staff Report September 23, 2024 12:11 pm IST

AE Elemental has opened its first commercial-scale EV battery recycling facility in Zawiercie, Poland.

AE Elemental, a joint venture between Ascend Elements and Elemental Strategic Metals, has opened its first commercial-scale EV battery recycling facility in Zawiercie, Poland. The facility can process 12,000 metric tonnes of used Li-ion batteries annually, making it one of Europe’s largest battery recycling facilities. Dozens of business and community leaders from Europe and North America attended the opening ceremony and toured the state-of-the-art facility. 

The growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) necessitates the vital role of lithium-ion battery recycling in the supply chain of EV battery materials. 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 minimising the environmental impacts associated with nickel, cobalt, and lithium mining.

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.

Mike O’Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements, said, “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. 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.”

The joint venture plans to build Europe’s largest lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Germany, capable of recycling up to 25,000 metric tonnes of batteries annually, equivalent to 58,000 EVs, beyond Poland.

Source: prnewswire.com