Elemental Strategic Metals of Zawiercie, Poland, and Ascend Elements of Westborough, Massachusetts, today announced the formation of AE Elemental — a joint venture headquartered in Zawiercie. The two companies will jointly own and operate a state-of-the-art electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling facility in Zawiercie. The plant will handle disassembly, discharging and shredding of EV batteries to produce black mass, which can then be used to manufacture new EV battery materials, including cathode active material (CAM) and precursor cathode active material (pCAM). The facility will have recycling capacity of up to 12,000 tonnes of batteries per year, equivalent to approximately 28,000 EV batteries.
Both partners have agreed on a joint investment in large-scale lithium extraction from black mass. Construction of extraction capacity — which will produce up to 20,000 tonnes of black mass annually — will begin in autumn 2024, with full operations planned for 2026.
In addition, the companies plan to build a state-of-the-art EV battery recycling facility in central Germany. The AE Elemental plant in Germany will have recycling capacity of up to 25,000 tonnes of batteries per year, equivalent to approximately 58,000 EV batteries.
„Our partnership with Ascend Elements is not just a strategic move into the battery recycling industry — it is a transformative step towards becoming a key player in the battery materials sector,” said Paweł Jarski, CEO of the Elemental Holding Group. „Combining Ascend Elements’ advanced technology with our recycling experience, our extensive collection platform, recycling operations and global reach puts AE Elemental at the forefront of this rapidly growing market.”
„AE Elemental represents an important milestone for Ascend Elements — our first commercial battery recycling facilities in Europe,” said Mike O’Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements. „Expanding into Europe will allow us to better serve our customers locally and help the industry meet new EU regulations requiring recycled content in new batteries. This is an excellent moment to expand our operations.”
ABOUT ASCEND ELEMENTS: Ascend Elements, headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, is a leading provider of sustainable battery materials solutions, operating in the fields of EV battery recycling and commercial production of pCAM and CAM. Using its Hydro-to-Cathode® technology, Ascend Elements produces new pCAM and CAM from spent lithium-ion cells more efficiently than traditional methods, resulting in improved economics and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.