Ascend Elements to Recycle Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturing Scrap for SK Battery America

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. —Ascend Elements, the vertically integrated lithium-ion battery recycling and engineered-materials company previously known as Battery Resourcers, today announced it has been selected by SK Battery America (SKBA) to recycle both cell and module lithium-ion battery manufacturing scrap from the company’s manufacturing facility in Commerce, Ga. The scrap material will be recycled at Ascend Elements’ new 154,000-square-foot battery recycling facility in Covington, Ga., which can recover 98% of battery materials and return critical battery elements to the battery supply chain.

"People often think lithium-ion battery recycling is just for end-of-life batteries, but waste from the battery cell manufacturing process is the biggest segment of the battery recycling market right now,” said Michael O’Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements. “SKBA is embracing sustainability and reducing its impact on the environment by recycling every bit of scrap battery material it produces. We are incredibly proud to have our new recycling base in Covington, Ga. and we look forward to helping SKBA conserve valuable material and keep battery production costs down. We are committed to continuing our work with SKBA and eventually returning the battery materials we recover to their supply chain. Lithium-ion battery recycling and materials recovery needs to become standard operating practice across the industry to minimize our dependence on mining, protect the environment and conserve valuable battery metals.”

“Our vision is to create a circular supply chain for electric vehicle batteries from raw materials to recycling in the United States,” said Alex Yarbrough, Environmental Engineer at SK Battery America. “We will move forward with Ascend Elements to improve the overall carbon-reduction value of EVs.”

Ascend Elements raised $90M in 2021 to expand its battery recycling and cathode manufacturing operations, and recently shared plans to open the Covington, Ga., recycling Base facility, which will be North America's largest battery recycling facility with 30,000 metric tons per year capacity when fully operational later this year. The company will continue expanding its commercial recycling and battery materials manufacturing operations in 2022 and 2023.

To learn more about Ascend Element’s closed-loop recycling and cathode active material manufacturing process, visit www.ascendelements.com.

ABOUT ASCEND ELEMENTS

Based in Westborough, Mass., Ascend Elements is revolutionizing the production of lithium-ion battery materials by establishing a clean and sustainable supply chain using recycled feedstock. Its patented Hydro-to-Cathode™ technology directly synthesizes new cathode active materials from spent lithium-ion cells more efficiently than traditional methods, resulting in reduced cost, improved performance, and lowered GHG emissions. With fewer batteries going to landfill and a cleaner manufacturing process, Ascend Elements is taking the lithium-ion battery industry to a higher level with a truly sustainable, closed-loop battery economy.

ABOUT SK BATTERY AMERICA

SK Battery America is a wholly owned subsidiary of SK On Co. Ltd., and the leading manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. SK Battery America invested a total of US$ 2.9 billion to build its EV battery plants in Commerce, Ga. Approximately, 2,900 American jobs will be created by the end of 2023, including 1,300 jobs currently. SK Battery America is the first in the industry that has successfully developed the NCM9 battery based on its exclusively unrivaled safety technology and quality expertise. NCM9 batteries will be installed in the e Ford F-150 Lightning and Volkswagen ID.4, which will be released this year.